Today we’d like to introduce you to Melany Dierks.
Hi Melany, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born in Caracas, Venezuela and my family moved to the United States when I was still in diapers. After a nasty divorce mother remarried and Arkansas was where I spent the majority of my youth. Childhood was tough because I had a stutter from age 6-12. It wasn’t easy making friends and I had already attended a few schools.
I drew portraits of my classmates to gain approval. Portraiture became familiar after attending over 10 schools became something I was known for among all the kids I knew. My parents were not supportive. Mother was a selfish, greedy and materialistic user. Dad was disconnected. My mother wanted me to be a cosmetic surgeon. After I told her I wanted to be an artist, she didn’t talk to me for a couple of weeks and would harp in my ear about being a starving artist. I convinced her that if I worked on a computer, I’d be successful. This led to me pursuing Graphic Design at UALR. I was supposed to get married before graduating but that never happened.
Fresh out of a canceled wedding, I moved to Los Angeles to attend Otis College of Art and Design. I switched to Advertising Design thinking it was more challenging and fun. At the senior show, I earned the silver and shortly my BFA in Advertising Design. I started working at DGWB in the creative department as an intern and after a year was laid off after Leihman Brothers went bankrupt. It was tough getting another advertising job. I did some freelance work doing storyboards and brand design. Eventually, I stopped doing design work and started teaching painting in Santa Monica at a public art studio. I also started tattooing. Life happened and I had a baby and then decided to put myself in grad school. After earning my MFA, I became a single mother and moved to Long Beach where I started working at a strip club. Dancing helped pay the bills while I built my tattoo clientele and painted. I painted my ass off and presented my work to KP Projects and showed my work with them. I also got into a tattoo shop and around the same time, started painting murals.
On the side, I was also teaching painting for one of those paint and sip companies. Once Covid hit and the restrictions were in order, I stopped dancing, the shop closed, no more paint and sip and no school. My son’s dad stepped in a little more especially after finding out about a Kobe mural commission which really put my name out there. After painting the 1st Kobe mural, I got really busy with murals. I was also tattooing out of my garage. Painting commissions were also kicking off with folks passing away and people wanting pieces to memorialize their loved ones. Currently, I work at the same tattoo shop that hired me from before, I paint every day and I get a mural here and there. On Thursday nights, I also like attending an open mic doing stand-up comedy. My son has been showing interest in illustration and fills up blank books I buy for him. Recently, he was at one of my open mics and told me, “mom, I want to be just like you”. I feel as an artist, I am an octopus and for my son, an octopus hero.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has been very tough, but that is where you gain resilience and clarity for who you are and what you want to do. I moved to CA in 2004. had the opportunity to go to Ringling of Art and Design but my aunt lived in Florida and I wanted to be where no one was that I knew and start fresh. My family is spread out: AR, FL, CO, NM. family situation was tough. After getting my first real job working at an ad agency then getting laid off after only a year, it was tough finding another job in advertising. I went back working in retail and doing some freelance work here and there. I was embarrassed and no one understood my struggle. There was a period when I was homeless. I couldn’t tell my family because they had always expected perfection. I started tattooing and teaching painting at a public art studio in Santa Monica turning hard away from the computer and the advertising. I had met someone and had a baby. I was tattooing until I got too big. Shortly after my son was born, I received an educational grant from my granny and I put myself in grad school with that. When I received my MFA, I had also become a single mother. Talk about tough! I didn’t care about the stigma, I needed money and when I moved to Long Beach started working at a strip club as a dancer to gain some footing in my other endeavors painting and tattooing. Covid was tough for everyone but for me, it put my ass to work with murals. All my life, I have been living on the edge with no solid 9-5 and with my goals and intentions, the universe has blessed me regardless of all the hardships.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In the tattoo world, portraiture is my thing. I am also at my easel every single day. My work often involves dual landscapes where portals allow beings to navigate into another setting, creating a means of escape or an exploration of the new world in which they inhabit. I explore the tattooed body using images on the body to be in conversation with the world around them, allowing for another means of communication. In passing through the portal, these beings are evolved to another unworldly state. In most cases, fields of outer space are where these happenings take place, in the unknown, surrounded by explosions of rainbow dust being the nebulas of space. This idea came from the realization that we often find ourselves navigating through the portals of life, being our devices, where we are in 2 places at one time. In these cases, we find ourselves in an evolutionary state of knowledge or deception constantly learning about something, adaptive to change and constantly growing. I have survived tough situations in my life often using the panel as my own means of escape, existing as a portal to wherever I wanted to go. These days, I live in Long Beach. I paint and tattoo and take time to enjoy my happy little family I have created. I have an amazing nine year old boy and a great partner who both encourage me through admiring eyes.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I see more art shows in my future. I’m going to be 40 in January and I’ve already decided from this point on that every year on my birthday, I will have my own show. I see myself tattooing still. I have my regular clients and they don’t seem to be going anywhere. As far as murals, bigger walls. There will be more of everything.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mywetpaintstudio.com
- Instagram: @melanydierks
- Facebook: facebook/melanymd
Image Credits
Murals: Superior Nut Company, Euphoros Dispensary, Kaptain Fish Collectibles
