Faculty  Additional Information                                
 Art Department Home


Fragment: Chile 1
24” x 24” x 3”
Oil on panel

Recently, I began to focus on “fragments” of the natural world around me, increasing my awareness of small visual moments. My concern with environmental issues is an undercurrent in this recent work, considering, among other things, air quality and its influence on the colors of the sky.

The appearance of our sky is influenced not only by events here, but also far away, reminding us of how we are interwoven with everything on our planet.

This image was inspired by a plane ride over the Andes mountain range on my return from Chile .

 


Fragment: Montana 1
 24” x 24” x 3”
Oil on panel

Two years ago I became interested in the impact of global warming. The possibility of the impending loss of places like Glacier National Park in Montana , one of my frequent summer haunts, inspired me to look more closely at Nature.

Why should anyone believe an artist who inveighs against the way the environment is treated yet whose own work gives ashes instead of beauty?"

 Arthur C. Danto, "Beauty to Ashes" Regarding Beauty: A View of Late Twentienth Century Art, by Neal Benezra and Olga M. Viso

 


Sunset Series: 122
26” x 44”
oil on panel

 


Temporal Square/Eternal Circle : Fragment 1
24” x 24”
Oil on panel

 


Temporal Square/Eternal Circle : Fragment 2
24” x 24”, 2006
Oil on panel

 

 

Melodee Martin Ramirez
Art History, Art Appreciation

Office: P220

Phone: 972 273 3077

EMail: mramirez@dcccd.edu

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION___________________________________
Her painting reflects her life. Living on a wooded hill overlooking a Lake Grapevine, Melodee Martin Ramirez captures the landscape, sunsets and wildlife she sees around her everyday. Studying with Kevin Macpherson, California plein air painter, and Greg Kreutz of the New York Student Art League, she then returned to graduate school to earn her MFA in painting. Her visits to the major European museums inspired her to investigate a historical technique of grisaille and glazing. Drawing on art historical sources as well as her own landscape, she creates paintings of the figure and the landscape with depth and luminosity.

EDUCATION______________________________________________________ 1998 Master of Fine Arts Degree, University of Dallas , Irving , Texas
1997 Master of Arts, Painting, University of Dallas , Irving , Texas 1988 Gregg Kreutz , New York Art Students League Workshop
1983 Master of Arts, Studio Arts, Ceramics/Painting Texas Woman's University, Denton , Texas
1975 Bachelor of Science, Education/Psychology, cum laude University of North Texas, Denton , Texas

COLLECTIONS___________________________________________________

Painting Corporate: A.H. Belo Corporation Foundation, Dallas, Texas
Lexus Corporation, Texas
Communities Foundation of Texas
Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation, Dallas, Texas
Private: Collectors in Texas, California, South Carolina
Ceramics LBJ Library, University of Texas , Austin , Texas
U.S. Vice Presidential Residence, Washington, D.C.
Private collectors in Texas, California, Louisiana

EXHIBITIONS________________________________________
2007 Communities Foundation of TexasArt Collection funded by the
Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation,
5500 Caruth Haven Drive , Dallas , Texas (permanent installation)
2006 Two from Texas : Melodee Martin Ramirez and Nancy Ferro,
Marie Park Studio
Red and Yellow
, North Lake College
Studio Tour Exhibition , The Arthouse, Flower Mound, Texas
Dia de los Muertos , Bath House Cultural Center , Dallas
Faculty Exhibition , North Lake College, Irving , Texas
2005 Studio Tour Exhibition, The Arthouse, Flower Mound, Texas
Dia de los Muertos , Bath House Cultural Center , Dallas
Faculty Exhibition, North Lake College , Irving , Texas
2004 Faculty Exhibition, North Lake College , Irving , Texas
Studio Tour Exhibition, The Arthouse, Flower Mound, Texas
2003 Faculty Exhibition, North Lake College, Irving, Texas
submerged Exhibition, Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas, Texas
500X Juried Annual Exhibition, Dallas, Texas
El Corazon Exhibition, Bath House Cultural Art Center
2002 submerged Exhibition, University of Texas at Dallas Main Gallery
El Corazon , Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas
Faculty Exhibit, North Lake College , Irving , Texas
Dia de los Muertos , Bath House Cultural Center , Dallas
2001 Dia de los Muertos, Bath House Cultural Center , Dallas
Outside the Lines , Bath House Cultural Center, Dallas
Park Central Exhibition, Marie Park, Curator, Dallas , Texas
1999 Art in the Metroplex 17th Annual Exhibition, Texas Christian University , Fort Worth , Texas . AWARD WINNER, Juror Clint Willour
Faculty Exhibit, North Lake College , Irving , Texas
1998 Edith Baker Gallery, December Exhibition, Dallas , Texas
Critic's Choice Exhibition , African American Museum, Dallas, Texas, presented by the Dallas Visual Art Center, Juror James Surls
North Texas Area Art League 31st Annual Exhibition, Denton, Texas, AWARD WINNER, Juror Ed Blackburn
New Texas Talent Exhibition , Craighead-Green Gallery, Dallas

MEMBERSHIP EXHIBITIONS________________________________________

2001-2006 Irving Art Center Annual Membership Exhibition, Irving Art Center The MAC Membership Show; Irving Art Center Annual Membership Exhibition, Irving Art Center
The Dallas Center for Contemporary Art, Annual Membership Exhibition

EDUCATIONAL GRANTS___________________________________________
1996 Full-tuition Scholarship, M.A./M.F.A. Program, University of Dallas,
Irving , Texas
1977 Graduate Teaching Assistantship, Art Department, Texas Woman's University, Denton, Texas
1976 Marie Delleney Art Scholarship, Texas Woman's Univ., Denton , Texas

GALLERY AFFILIATION____________________________________________
2005 -2006 Marie Park Studio, Galerie Kornye, Dallas, Texas
2004 Cidnee Patrick Gallery , Dallas , Texas
2000-2003 Evelyn Siegel Gallery, Fort Worth, Texas

TEACHING EXPERIENCE___________________________________________
2004-2007 Full time professor, North Lake College , Irving , Texas
2003 Visiting Scholar, North Lake College , Irving , Texas
2001-2003 Figure Drawing and Art Appreciation Adjunct Professor, North Lake College , Irving , Texas
1998-2000 Art History Adjunct Professor, North Lake College, Irving, Texas

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS_____________________________________
1999-2006 Irving Art Center, Texas Fine Arts Association, Austin , Texas
The MAC, McKinney Avenue, Dallas; Kimbell Museum; Dallas Museum of Art; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth