Mel Meo opens new studio in old location
Local artist Mel Meo has re-opened her art studio in the same building she occupied 20 years ago.
“What goes around comes around, I guess,” Meo said last week. “This is like coming home for me – returning to my original spot after 20 years.
“My family is originally from Indianapolis near where the speedway is,” Meo said. “My grandfather came here to Southwest Florida and lived over on Sanibel. When my parents left Indianapolis, my mother, who was Native American, was drawn to the Calusa mounds of Pineland so my parents purchased a house there in 1970 and that’s where I grew up.”
She went on to say, “Pineland was quite isolated back then. There were no kids just older island people. I got interested in art mostly because of my brother, David Meo. He’s an artist and because there was nothing else to do, and I wanted to be like my older brother, I began painting. I bought my first sewing machine when I was 16 and I just painted and sewed.
“There never was a doubt that I was going to be an artist,” Meo said. “I’ve never had a lesson and I’m still learning by trial and error. The driving force for me is the desire to always create. Whether it’s painting, sewing or writing I wake up with that desire every morning.
The artist described how she opened her first studio.
“Originally I was going to put some things in Nan Patterson’s place ‘Island Time Home and Gifts’,” Meo said. “Then she suggested that I should open my own shop. This was available so I decided to just go ahead and do it.
“This studio highlights my family and friends,” Meo said. “Dan Fischer is the local carver, I have Cliff Schultes and Barb Darling does pottery. I would love to have a little piece of everybody’s art in here. There are even friends and people that have come to my art class. I’m always looking for local artists. So if there are any local artists out there please come see me.”
The shop, like Meo’s art, reflects the peace she has found on Pine Island during the last 40 years. Her painting is eclectic and exuberant, bursting forth through an astounding variety of mediums and surfaces, always exhibiting the artist’s spirituality and sense of humor. Watercolors, painted furniture, silk screened clothing, and much more fill the little shop. Her art is all at once whimsical, cheerful, and tropically colorful.
“I will be doing the fire tower next month (October),” Meo said. “It’s called ‘5000 Years of Fishing’ and begins at the top of the fire tower with the Calusa Indians and finishes at the bottom with local fishermen today. We are looking for donations to cover the costs.”
Meo’s studio is located at The Center behind Subway.