Melinda Cowdery
	Watercolor artist Melinda Cowdery has been drawing and painting since childhood. Born in Colorado in 1953, Melinda lived with her family in northern California and Washington. After finishing high school in Olympia, WWashington, she attended the Museum Art School in Portland, Oregon. After finishing art school in 1973, she began a professional career in fine jewelry design and manufacture which has continued for 15 years. During this time, Melinda painted as a hobby as well as doing graphic art projects. She decided in 1986 to pursue fine art as a profession and immediately focused on watercolor as her medium. She studied with several prominent Northwest artists, and then embarked upon painting seriously on her own. She made her professional debut in early 1988. Melinda has, to date had 3 one person exhibitions and her work has been very popular. She also won a 1st prize for a painting she entered in an Oregon Watercolor Society juried show.Melinda is known for her skill in working to combine the richness of color and the aura of movement. Her execution of the Great Blue Heron and Appaloosa horses illustrates her sensitive mastery of the medium. Some of Melinda's many collectors describe her work as lively and refreshing, but also contemplative. She comments that she hopes that the paintings will speak for themselves.