Artist Statement: Melinda Esparza is a contemporary impressionist artist living and working with oils and inks in the beautiful American Southwest. She came late to art in her 20s, and began her journey in the stained glass art community. The exquisite light and color of glass inspired her to continue her education by attending Pima Community College, where she graduated with High Honors and an Associates Degree in Fine Arts.
While raising her son with her husband in Arizona, she continued to work in printmaking and in occasionally crafting a few stained glass commissions. In 1999, she enrolled at the University of Arizona. She graduated summa cum laude in 2004 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Studio Focus. In 2009, her work was one of a few selected artworks chosen for inclusion in the Tucson Museum of Art's 2009 Biennial.
Melinda has stained glass pieces and artwork throughout the United States and Mexico. She has exhibited in New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Her work won her an Artist in Residency at the Grand Canyon, Arizona, in 2012 from a pool of hundreds of submissions from around the world. Hosting 'Open Studio' events followed, during which she greeted visitors and sold many works. Light, color, and the story that landscape wishes to impart, continue to whisper to her: 'Go forward. Paint!
If I can in some small way create this for others, my soul is gratified in the making.