Melodie Cook
Red Monocle, pastel on paper, 391⁄2 ×391⁄2in (100 ×100cm). ‘A self-portrait wearing a monocle, studying the ageing me in close up. This was the first work I submitted to the Pastel Society Open Exhibition and I was delighted when they not only accepted this and another work, but it also won the Conté à Paris Award.’
Even during her successful fashion career, Melodie Cook always wanted to be an artist, and once she had made the decision to pursue it, she did not look back, ‘although from a financial point of view it was a difficult decision!’ In 1977, Melodie went to Italy for three weeks. She remained for 27 years, creating for the fashion industry, and did not paint or draw in the fine art sense for 20 years after leaving school. ‘Towards the end of my career, I attended regular life drawing, painting, printing and sculpture at Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice. When I returned to the UK I did a full-time three-year course in Fine Art including sculpture at the Art Academy in London.’ She also recalls the grounding in fine art she received early on: ‘I was very lucky to have a fantastic art teacher at school who taught drawing the academic way, and gave me an excellent foundation which I still refer to.’
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