Date of event: April 14, 2012, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

“I got started with art as a child. I’ve been surrounded by art my whole life. I can’t hide from it. I love it. Art feeds my soul.”
~ Mel C. Waters

Mel Waters, being born to both Filipino and African-American parentage, grew up with a strong desire to do art by being inspired by his own “portrait” of life experiences. With an unbreakable support system from family and friends, Mel seeks most of his artistic subject matter for his work from within the soul that coincides with his life experiences with the human condition that transforms his abstract style.

“There’s always a story behind people”, Mel explains. “Abstract art makes me feel like I’m painting outside of my body. The work will speak for itself.” This is why he considers his most traditional inspiration to be Pablo Picasso. But modern day artists, to name a few, that also inspires him includes DUG1, CHE1, BISARO, SPIE, Mike “DREAM” R.I.P., Kay Bradner, Kim Cogan, Mitch Gibson, David Choong Lee, and Shawn Barber. As Mel simply puts it, “I love the poetry, technique and soulfulness of their work.”

Mel most enjoys working with pencils, acrylic, oil and spray paint. He created the album cover artwork for Tarik and I-DREN, and his most popular work includes murals for Jason Britton and Pink’s husband Carey Hart.

This Live Artist event was sponsored Montana Cans. Using spray paint on our front wall, Mel created this image of the Golden Gate Bridge, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the span.