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WEDNESDAY December 3, 2003 - Subscribe - Contact Us Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels November 26, 2003 Collages capture essence of many occasions By Amanda Bolsinger For the Tidings For artist Melissa Markell creating a collage means more than just cutting pictures out of old magazines. Markell creates thematic collages using handmade papers, old postcards, pictures, and anything else that sparks her fancy. "My work is thematic, it all tells a story," describes Markell. Some of Markell's best costumers are hotels and other businesses that need art work created around a particular theme or locale. One of her larger jobs was work that she created for Merv Griffin for the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel. "They wanted work done with a Los Angeles Theme," says Markell. "So I used a lot of old postcards and digitally enlarged them to fit my pieces." One of Markell's favorite pieces is a mural that she created at the Staples Center that is 24 feet wide by 7 feet high. "The work took a couple of months and I got to work on scaffoldings, it was a really fun job," says Markell. Not all of Markell's work is done on such a grand scale. She often works on commission pieces for different occasions. "I did a piece for a friend of mine whose mother had just passed away," says Markell. "I wrote her favorite poem in the middle and then surrounded it with pictures of some of her favorite people and memories." Finding the materials can be as fun as creating the art. Markell shops at swap meets, flea markets, collectible shops and antique shops looking for the perfect pieces to accentuate her art. "I will go shopping for a certain theme, say tea pots, and it will really evolve through the art that I find around that theme," says Markell. One of Markell's current projects will soon be in display in Ashland. A piece based on the theme of the history of flight for the Southern Oregon Historical Society. The museum will soon be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Wright's brothers first flight and Markell's piece will be one of the first thing that visitors to the museum will see. "People can take any idea, interest, person, or occasion and have a custom created piece of art done about it," says Markell. "My collages can be very personal with pictures of family and favorite moments, they really all just tell stories." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Road Cams