Melody Croft

The main idea in my work is about being human. Unlike a photo taken by a camera that documents a moment in time and space, my paintings are narrative observations and considerations. I blend the real and the imagined to look at how things are and what society expects of us today. I want people to consider the psychological, sociological, and emotional complexities of race, gender, age, and culture.
      Before I became a full-time artist, I spent thirty years teaching elementary school. I read to my class to entertain and educate while allowing the author’s words to help the children understand human experience. I held the book up, facing the class, so the children could see the illustrations and help them see, feel, and understand what the words alone may not yet communicate to them. Being surrounded by children’s books every day and watching the children’s creative minds grow profoundly shaped my creative sensibilities. The daily interactions with children and the instant connection to their concrete thinking are captured on my canvases through simple lines, shapes, values, and textures in vibrant colors. My teaching experience developed my artistic language, also visible in my artwork through symbolism, narrative structure, met...

Self Taught Artist
Bachelor in Science Early Childhood Education
Master in Reading Education
Specialist in Reading Education

Solo Exhibitions
2021 Invitational Online Exhibit, NYC Phoenix Art Collective, New York, NY
2021 Too: An Orientation of Spirit, Oconee County Arts Foundation, Watkinsville, GA
2021 Black Lives Matter, The Tiny Ath Gallery, Athens, GA
2018 Illuminations, Universal Unitarian Church, Athens, GA
2017 Sixteen Stories, Oconee Library, Watkinsville, GA
2013 Menagerie, White Tiger, Athens, GA
2013 Goddesses: The Real and The Imagined, The Loft Gallery, Watkinsville, GA
2012 Melody Croft, Hendershots, Athens, GA

Two Person Exhibition
2015 The Space Between Us, City Gallery, Charleston, SC, August

Curatorial Exhibition
2018 Resonance: a bi-sensory art exhibit, Oconee County Arts Foundation, Watkinsville, GA

Group Exhibitions
2025 Faces that Speak-Portraits Art Exhibition, Blue Koi Gallery online exhibit
2024 Southworks, Oconee County Arts Foundation, Watkinsville, GA
Pen and Ink, Winterville Cultural Center, Winterville, GA
Juried Exhibition, Winterville Cultural Center, Winterville, GA
2023 Lyndon House 46th Annual Juried Exhibition, Juror Hallie Ringle, Hallie Ringle, the Hugh Kahul Curator of Contemporary Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art. Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, GA 
2022 By Any O...