Jo-Anna Melrose

Jo-Anna Melrose was born in 1957 and raised on the estate in Lloyd Harbor, NY where her father was head horticulturist. Working on this evocative property on Long Island’s North Shore provided a rich environment for the observation of nature, and inspired Melrose to begin painting at a very young age. The interplay of formal gardens, old growth forests, and shoreline established the basis for the keen sense of balance and color which characterize her representational figures studies and luminous landscapes.

Her formal education includes fine art classes at SUNY College at Buffalo, NY; Stonybrook University, NY; and the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC, as well as studio work with master printmakers Nicolette Jelen, and Dan Welden.

Her prints, drawings, and paintings have been exhibited at the National Arts Club, NYC; Vincent Louis Galleries, NYC; Elaine Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY; Gallery North, Setauket, NY; Gallery East, Amagansett, NY; Heckshire Museum, Huntington, NY; Goat Alley Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY; and theJohn Jermain Gallery, JJML, Sag Harbor, NY.

Melrose continues to draw inspiration from the natural world creating visual meditations of great beauty. She and her husband, Peter Wandel, and their children Elliot and Diedra, devide their time between homes in Sag Harbor, New York, and Nova Scotia’s Bay of Fundy.