Mel McCuddin Figurative and Expressionist Visions and Messages

McCuddin hails from the Pacific Northwest where he has garnered a loyal client base, as well as earning global aficionados. Nineteen years ago, he began exhibiting at Mango Tango Art Gallery, where he now enjoys an annual solo show.

Over sixty years ago he began as an abstract expressionist. His sense of exploration led him to become a figurative expressionist artist, featuring either human or animal forms. He paints directly on the sized canvas, with no initial drawing or outline.  The paint is poured, dripped, rubbed, and wiped, and he uses rags and his fingertips at least as frequently as he does brushes. His intuitive approach has earned him the title “Art Shaman” from gallery owner Jane Coombes.

McCuddin remarks that his life experiences inform his creations. He begins by not knowing where the process of creating the painting will take him, but the end result includes figures which relate to human actions, associations and relationships.

McCuddin observes that art exists “to stimulate us, to make us think and examine ourselves and the world around us, and ultimately to make our lives richer and fuller.”