“La Lomita,” oil on canvas panel by Melwell, 8×10

A Gene Kloss-inspired painting. Nevermind that the original is a winter-time snow painting. I changed the season, the color, a

“Witnesses,” oil on canvas panel by Melwell, 8×10

Inspired by a quintessential Gene Kloss composition, “Wind Cloud,” from 1934.

Song inspiration

There’s a song we sing in the Swing Dusters, the Western Swing Band I am in with Robert Parsons and a wonderful group of

Magpie poses

The addition of a bird feeder to my usual springtime hanging of hummingbird feeders has led to invasion by a family of magpies

The Old Site of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Here’s another painting of a Northern New Mexico Church, the old site of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church prior to it bu

An exciting new direction

Every once and a while I’ll pick up an art magazine and be really impressed with a painting I might see. Most recently,

El Santuário de Chimayó

Up in the mountains of Northern New Mexico is a little church where the idea of miraculous healing nd pilgrimage is still aliv

The charms of Hacienda de Los Martinez in Lower Ranchitos

Opportunities for Plein air painting are all around in Taos and Northern New Mexico. When I give my ghost tour and someone ask

Copying Taos Masters

I like to study classic Taos founder paintings as a way to understand the signature compositional styles and storytelling fact

Notes on the “Taoseño” Series

There are five paintings in my studio that are part of a continuing series called the “Taoseño” series. These are