AMY MELIOUS

Amy Melious has lived on Salt Spring Island since 2004. 

Amy grew up surrounded by the wild and diverse landscapes of Northern California, where nature became a powerful and enduring source of inspiration, informing a lifetime of photographic artwork.

She began a career in photography in 1985, focusing, at first, entirely on traditional black and white image making using a variety cameras, film formats, and printing her own work in a traditional darkroom. 

She studied the world around her  through documentary story-telling, still-life, portraiture, landscape, nature, and travel photography. Early on, she became interested in alternative printing and hand painting techniques for further expression. Eventually, digital tools were added to the mix. 

Amy’s photographic work divided into two worlds, both of equal importance to her. In one, the photographs are kept true to capture with minimal adjustments such as exposure and cropping. These keep a record of moments in time. She values  photography as a language of memory and experience, offering us the opportunity to savor, share, and learn from history.

All of her other photographs become ingredients for creative exploration and expression. For these more personal artworks, Amy begins with the images captured in camera, then works intuitively and with abandon. In a digital darkroom, she often combines multiple images and applies layers of color and texture. After printing, Amy completes her images by hand, choosing from pastels, acrylics, oils or wax.  She speaks of this complex set of finishing techniques  as “adding back the unphotographable elements”. Her efforts are guided by a desire to arrive at a finished image that, all in one glance, might be capable of communicating wonder perceived, while celebrating life and connection.

Every picture is an echo of experience. Art invites me into relationship with what draws my attention. At first, I am a witness. Next, I become a participant, and then in the studio, a craftsperson. Each image I spend time with is a rich and poetic journey that feels to me more like a lifeline than an activity or a product.

To see a world in a grain of

sand, and heaven in a wildflower,

hold infinity in the palm of your

hand and eternity in an hour.

- William Blake