Melinda was born in Bartow, FL and
raised in Wiggins, MS. She has had a pencil in her hand for as long as she can remember. Her mother would cut
out drawing exercises from the Sunday paper to keep her busy. Being from a small town, art classes were not offered
in school.
After a couple of years of college and many years in the Navy, Melinda decided
to finish her degree in Business. She took a Basic Drawing class for fun and decided to return to her first dream
of becoming an artist. The next semester, Melinda changed her major to Studio Art and never looked back. She received
her Associates of Arts degree from Pensacola Junior College and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art from the University
of West Florida.
Melinda would always move from one visual art medium to the next, never
staying with one art medium for very long. Her primary mediums were pencil and pastels. In the last two (2) years,
she has been experimenting with watercolors. She had always felt that she couldn't paint, but maybe, watercolors
were what she'd been looking for.
Melinda lived in southern Spain for many years and traveled all over Europe taking photographs.
Now she is painting the places she enjoyed visiting so much.
Melinda and her husband, Rodger, live in Meridian,
MS with their two miniature Schnauzers, Schatz and Liebe. After her husband retires from government service, Melinda
and Rodger plan to move back to Wiggins where she will keep painting.
"Proud Indian"
PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS 2007 BEST IN SHOW: Honorable Mention - Melinda Loechel (Proud
Indian) DRAWING & PRINTS: 2nd Place - Melinda Loechel (Proud Indian)
TO SEE SLIDESHOW OF EXAMPLES OF THIS ARTIST'S
WORK, CLICK ON "PLAY" BELOW. TO SEE ARTWORK FOR SALE BY THIS ARTIST, CLICK ON E-GALLERY LINK BELOW:
