Work samples

  • Franklin: Climbing from Verses for Children
  • Climbing from Verses for Children

    Performers
    Claire Galloway, soprano
    Edward Rothmel, piano

    "Climbing" is from Erik Franklin's debut 5-song cycle: Verses for Children (2020) with texts by Amy Lowell.

  • Franklin: Climbing from Verses for Children
  • Climbing from Verses for Children

    Performers
    Claire Galloway, soprano
    Edward Rothmel, piano

    "Climbing" is from Erik Franklin's debut 5-song cycle: Verses for Children (2020) with texts by Amy Lowell.

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About

Carroll County  

Melisa Peterson Lewis is a science and speculative fiction author who loves answering weird questions in prose. She has published the Lazarus City and Somnus series and several short stories in anthologies. You can usually find her writing, gardening, or jamming at concerts.

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Smoke

In my series of paintings, I explore the provocative juxtaposition of nude women smoking cigarettes amidst vibrant colors. Utilizing both acrylic and oil mediums, I delve into the complexities of femininity and societal taboos. Each canvas depicts the female form in various poses, exuding confidence and defiance, while the act of smoking adds an element of rebellion and allure. The bright colors serve to intensify the atmosphere, drawing viewers into a world where beauty and controversy collide. Through bold brushstrokes and meticulous detailing, I seek to challenge conventional notions of femininity and empower the subjects to assert their autonomy. These paintings invite contemplation on the intersections of desire, identity, and societal expectations, sparking conversations about freedom of expression and the complexities of female agency.

  • Just a hit
    Just a hit

    Oil on canvas

    80x60 cm (about 32x24 inches)
    2021

    Available for Purchase
  • Fuego
    Fuego

    Oil on canvas

    80x80 cm (about 32x32 inches)


    2021

    Available for Purchase
  • Moon Magic
    Moon Magic

    100x80 cm (about 40x32 inches)

    Oil paint on canvas

    2023

    This is my one of my favorite painting I have ever done and so far it has won 2 competitions!

    Available for Purchase
  • Green Smoke
    Green Smoke

    80x60 cm (about 32x24 inches)

    Oil paint on canvas

    2021

    Available for Purchase
  • Smoke
    Smoke

    50x40 cm

    Oil paint on canvas

    2021

    Available for Purchase
  • Just a hit
  • Fuego
  • Moon Magic
  • Green Smoke
  • Smoke

    • Nature

    Abstracting the natural world partially or fully.

    • After the Rain
      After the Rain

      2024:  24x24 acrylic abstract on canvas, pink, nature, flower, Spring, floral

    • Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree
      Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree

      2022:  24x30 acrylic on watercolor paper, painting, brown, orange, blue, tree, bush, fiddle leaf fig

    • High Altitude
      High Altitude

      2024:  18x18 acrylic abstract on wood board, blue, green, brown, yellow, nature, water, lake, stream

    • Organic Matter
      Organic Matter

      2025:  30x40 acrylic abstract on canvas, peach, light blue, navy blue, red, light green

    • Fireflies and Fairies
      Fireflies and Fairies

      30x40 acrylic abstract on canvas, peach, red, turquoise, navy blue, red, light green, shapes

  • After the Rain
  • Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree
  • High Altitude
  • Organic Matter
  • Fireflies and Fairies

    • Princess For Mayor

    Clock-A-Doodle-Doo

    Found object sculpture bird with ball clock body, shoehorn wings, ceramic doll head with glasses, cut metal rooster like tail and antique flower frog hat with vintage pen cap, pendulum with egg shaped jewelry piece. Mocks the idea of time flying.

    • Clock-A-Doodle-Doo
      Clock-A-Doodle-Doo

      Found object sculpture bird with ball clock body, shoehorn wings, ceramic doll head with glasses, cut metal rooster like tail and antique flower frog hat with vintage pen cap, pendulum with egg shaped jewelry piece. Mocks the idea of time flying.

      Included in "Humor" a themed exhibition by juror Glen Kessler at District Arts 15 North Market St, Frederick MD 21701. October 2023

      Measures 15"x10"x6.5"

      $550

    • Time Machine
      Time Machine

      Time Machine - a vehicle created for time travel from an antique wood shoe form. The mechanisms include vintage watch parts, vintage protractor control panel and a propeller canopy supported by a large drill bit.

      10x6x11

      SOLD

  • Clock-A-Doodle-Doo
  • Time Machine

    • feb_9_24

    Medium: Hi8 Video Cassette Short Film, 2024

    • feb_9_24
    •

    Princess For Mayor

    MONOPRINTS

    A series process based monoprints.

  • monoprint#8
  • monoprint#7
  • monoprint#6
  • monoprint#5
  • monoprint#4
  • monoprint#3
  • monoprint#2
  • monoprint#1

    • MONOPRINTS

    A series process based monoprints.

  • monoprint#8
  • monoprint#7
  • monoprint#6
  • monoprint#5
  • monoprint#4
  • monoprint#3
  • monoprint#2
  • monoprint#1

    • Torn Paper series and Energy works. 1981 - 2000

    Torn Paper Series & Energy Work, 1981 - 2000.

    As an artist I have alway worked with manipulating and representing energy forms. There are times when I sense that I am creating a representation that sees into the basic structure of reality, to a core of energy which inhabits all things.  These works represent that need to see beyond the surface of things. 

    • Detail: One Moment in a Day, 1953.
      Detail: One Moment in a Day, 1953.

      Detail: One Moment in a Day, 1953. Mixed media on paper with collaged torn paper. 63”H x 55”W"

    • One Moment in a Day, 1953.
      One Moment in a Day, 1953.

      One Moment in a Day, 1953. Mixed media and torn paper on paper. 60"H x 55"W., 

      My mother, who was born in 1921, was pregnant in 1953 with a third child for our family. The fetus was RH positive.  Transfusions were not done at that time.   My mother was RH negative. The baby died in utero in the eight month of her pregnancy from hemolytic disease. She had to carry the fetus to term.  After the boy was born, she was not permitted to hold or even see the child after its birth.

      In knowing her for fifty-nine years before she passed, I believe she didn't recover from that loss. This painting is about the pain of that loss.

    • Turbulence.
      Turbulence.

      Turbulence, mixed media and torn paper on paper. 20"H x 26"W.

    • I Am a Ball of Fire.
      I Am a Ball of Fire.

      I Am a Ball of Fire, 1985. 50"H x 50"W. Torn paintings on paper are collaged onto paper.

      This painting and several other paintings within this body of work represent my effort to depict my self, freed from the corporeal body I was born into.  It is an unanswerable inquiry, but these works attempt to examine it from the perspective of the unconscious mind.

       

    • Clearing in the forest, 1983
      Clearing in the forest, 1983
    • Demons without Faces II, 1981
      Demons without Faces II, 1981

      Demons Without Faces (30.5”H x 38.25”W diptych) in a New York collection.

    • Demons Without Faces, 1981
      Demons Without Faces, 1981

      Demons Without Faces (30.5”H x 38.25”W diptych) was purchased by Joseph Hirshhorn at an auction to benefit the Washington Project for the Arts.

      The work was bequeathed to the Hirshhorn Museum upon Joe Hirshhorn’s death.  The Object Record at the Hirshhorn is .86.661.

    • Ring of Fire.
      Ring of Fire.

      Ring of Fire, mixed media on paper with torn paper. 20"H x 26"W.

       

    • Sylph.
      Sylph.

      Sylph. Acrylic on paper, 50"H x 38"W. 1990

    • What Noise???
      What Noise???

      What Noise??? Mixed media on canvas. 2000. 84"H x 70"W.

      Available for Purchase
  • Detail: One Moment in a Day, 1953.
  • One Moment in a Day, 1953.
  • Turbulence.
  • I Am a Ball of Fire.
  • Clearing in the forest, 1983
  • Demons without Faces II, 1981
  • Demons Without Faces, 1981
  • Ring of Fire.
  • Sylph.
  • What Noise???

    • Excerpts from (EM=) Relativity over The Absurdity of Life

    EM = ME and all things around me.

    All things around me is a cosmic contribution to the making of Me.

    We know this, but that's not enough for it to be accepted as a way of living.

    So instead we continuously live the Absurdity of Life.

    • Excerpts from (EM=) Relativity over the Absurdity of Life