Wildlife artist, Melanie Fain has joined some of the finest animal artists from the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, Japan, and Australia as a new, signature member of the Society of Animal Artists, an association of animal and wildlife painters and sculptors.

Living in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, Melanie Fain has found the stimulus for her thriving art career.  “I really like studying what I paint. I’m constantly traipsing around my land, which is thick with live oaks, cedar, Spanish oaks and all kinds of wildlife native to Texas.”

?A dedicated naturalist, Fain is able to evoke the emotion she feels for her subjects through variety of color and simplicity of form.

For the past 25 years, Melanie has honed her craft. She began her career by learning the process of Intaglio printmaking, and creating etchings of incredible detail. Fain would then add her own signature touch to the finished piece, by hand watercoloring each one. Through her etchings, it is apparent that Fain treasures all the living creatures that fill her landscape. She puts as much care into painting an ant walking on a thistle stem as she puts into the regal profile of a magpie.

Fain was soon entering her work into juried shows and winning both accolades and recognition.

In recent years, Fain has expanded her portfolio and added watercolor artist to her credentials. She,is able to make her paintings appear incredibly real through the painstaking application of paint to paper.

Fain’s dedication to her craft has resulted in awards such as Best of Show at the Ruidoso Art Festival, Ruidoso, N.M. (1997); Best in Show, 2-D, Natureworks in Tulsa, OK (2002); Best in Category, Sun Valley Arts Festival, Sun Valley, ID (2003); Award of Excellence, Natureworks, Tulsa, OK (2004); and Award of Excellence, Society of Animal Artists (2007). For more information, visit: www.melaniefain.com