Melissa Gurdus


Profile

Melissa Gurdus
City: Port Richey
Country: United States
Joined: Oct 2009

I have created fine art work since I was a child. Below is a brief description of my formal education, art media I studied and the public institutions that own my work.

EDUCATION

BFA 1965 -Tyler School of Fine Arts of Temple University

I majored in printmaking and sculpture and took many courses in oil painting, drawing, design.

The courses in printmaking included etching, lithography, serigraphy, wood cut and engraving.

The courses in sculpture included clay sculpture, bronze casting, welding, marble carving and wood carving.

MFA 1967 – University of Wisconsin, Madison Campus

I majored in sculpture and printmaking. I created a new printmaking medium combining office equipment for my Master’s Degree one person show.

The series was called “Electronic Variations.” and examples of this work can be found in many museums and private collections.

MA 1990 – University of South FloridaI majored in Special Education.

PERMANENT COLLECTIONS

Museum of Modern Art – New York City
Metropolitan Museum of Art – New York City
New York City Public Library
Library of Congress
Philadelphia Museum of Fine Arts
University of Wisconsin Library

EQUIPMENT

I shoot with a Canon 5D Mark II Digital Single Lens Reflex camera and use Adobe Photoshop CS4, Adobe RAW Editor 5.5 and Lightroom 2 to edit my photos.

My lenses include a Tamron 28-300mm IS lens, a Canon EF 100mm macro lens, a Canon EF 24-105mm IS lens and Canon EF 70-300mm IS lens.

As a back up camera I also use a Fuji S100FS digital camera and a Canon G9 Digital Camera.

THOUGHTS

My work in photography continues to be influenced by my extensive fine arts background, including painting and printmaking.

For me, art is about creativity and freedom of expression, and in that sense there are no rules.

My greatest goal is to expand my photography into the realm of ideas and emotion.

The world provides me my material for study and includes all things great and small.

Everything I can see becomes subjects to study with my camera.

My purpose is to isolate depict or capture a particular essence of some subject.

I use photography as my medium of artistic expression.

I seek qualities that are elusive, difficult to discover and portray.

Photography for me is about sharing my world view.

FEATURED

Featured on the Red Bubble Home Page December 5, 2009.

The following is featured in Pets Are Us Group.

The following photo has been featured three times.

The following is featured in Photography 101.

Voted in the top ten in the Thanksgiving Time Dahlia(s) challenge

Voted in the top ten of Fabulous Families Challenge

This is Featured in Macro Photography Group.

This is featured in The Black and White Enthusiast Group

Featured in Unlimited Quality Group

Featured in 5D Mark II Group

Featured in Candid Photographs of Friends and Family

Featured in Backyard Macro and Close Up Group

Featured in Candid Photographs of Friends and Family

Featured in the As Is Group

This is featured in All Around Florida Group

This is featured in Black and White Photographers’ Show Case Group

This is featured in 1:1 Macro Photography Group

This is featured in the Extreme Close-Ups Group

Featured in !100% Group

Featured in Shapes and Patterns Group

This is featured in Shapes and Patterns and !Inspired Art!

This was featued in First Things Group.

Featured in Focus and Lighting Group.

Featured in Yellow Two Group

This is featured in Mysteries of the Common Group.

This is featured in Backyard Macros and Close Ups Group.

This is featured in 1:1 Macro Group.

This has been featured in Black and White Photographers Showcase

This is featured in the As Is Group.

This is featured in First Things Group.

Featured in Untouched Group.

Featured in +Untouched+Group.

This was featured in 1:1 Macro Photography Group.

This is featured in Unlimited Quality Group.

This is featured in the Going Green Group.

This is featured in Shades of Grey Group.

This is featured in Leaves Group.

This is featured in the Going Green Group.

This is featured in the 5D Mark II Group.

Groups

Melissa Gurdus is a member of All Around Florida , ! ♦♣♠♥Ȃll Things Black ♥♠♣♦ !, All Things Orange Artwork Gallery, Complex Simplicity of Art, The Fruit and Veg Shop(2 uploads a Day), Yellow Gallery, ! $$☻The Christmas Shop (Get Art Promoted)☺ !, ! 100% !, ! Inspired Art !, !**CANDID PHOTOGRAPHS of friends and family~~ (PLEASE ADD A DESCRIPTION OF WHO IS IN THE PICTURE)**!, " You Big SOFTY", "Tone It Down"! (3/day - No [EXPLETIVE] color allowed!), ** Super Macro Photography (Two Per Day ), **ELEGANT ROSE CARD'S**, **FOCUS and LIGHTING**, *A Beautiful Blur, 1:1 Macro Photography (Limit: 2 posts per 24 hour period), 2D - Daffodils & Dahlias , 50+ GROUP, 5D Mark II, A Fractal Energy Passion (2 Downloads a day), A Photographer's Craft , A T-Shirt Revolution, A Vector Tshirts Only Group, Abstract Realism, Abstracts from Nature, All About Flowers, All About Your Best Work, All Animals Great And Small., All Around the Styles, All In, "Editing", All Original Blends, All Out Emotion, All Pets Great and Small, All Soft and Cuddlies !!, All That is Nature (Photography Only), All the Colors of the Rainbow, All things in the Natural World, All Things Poetic, Artistic, Philosophical, Animal Photography -*4 legged & furry shots Only*, Animal Portraits, aqua, lime or indigo, Architectural Photography, Architecture and cityscapes, Art For The World, Art in Math, Art of the Mundane (read the rules!), Artistic Motion Blur, Artrageous RB Artists - Self Portrait Gallery, As Is, AW Welcome Center, B&W - Character - People Shots, Backyard Macro and Closeups (3 a day), Beginner's Expressions, Berries, Fruits & Seeds - 3/day, Birds and Creatures of Flight, Bits and Pieces , Black & White Photographers Showcase, Black and White Photography, Blur, Bokeh, Busch Gardens Fans, Butterflies, Skippers, Moths, & Other Winged Insects (2 a Day), Cacti and other Succulents, Candid Photography ( 1/24 ) , Canon Vs Nikon (1 per day!), Capturing Emotion, Cards for Everyday (With words or Collage style) , Cards For Sale (Must have writing on them), Childhood, Children-The Power of Raw Emotion , Classical Photographic Portraiture, Colour and light, Colour Me Vibrant Red!, contrasting perceptions HELP WANTED NEED CO HOST TO RUN CHALLENGES APPLY IN THE FORUMS. THANKS, Creative, Talented, and Unknown, Critique Tees, Cutest of the Cute, Depth Of Field (2 images per day) - Read Group Rules Please, Design Is, Digital Photography, Domestic and Pedigree Cats, Drawn to Cotton- Art on T-shirts, DSLR Users Only - 1/24 - Camera & Lens In Description Please., Ebony and Ivory, Enchanting Powerful Photo Manipulation (2 per day), Everyday Life, Extraordinary Fractalius - 3/day, Extreme Close-Ups, Fabulous Flowers, Family Matters, Family Unlimited, FEATURED ONLY, Fine Arts, First Things, Flame Apophysis, Florida the Sunshine State , new challenge is open, Flower and Foliage DETAIL - 1 per day (24 hours), Flowers in macro (very close macro please), Food for Thought, Food Photography and Food Styling, For the love of Canon - 2 Images per day with type of Canon camera used, For the Love of Cats , 1 image a day , Fractal Art Frenzy, Fractal Perception (3 per day max please) , FRACTAL Ts, Freedom to Shine, Fuji Fine (3/day, Model Req'd), Fungilicious, Globes, Spheres and Curves - 2 per day, Going Green, Good News Group - Sharing & Caring, Green!, Grunge Photography, How to Sell Art and T-shirts, Humour Captured, If it doesn't belong, Images & Ideas, Impressionism Café, In the Pink 50% pink, It's in the detail..., Just Pure Nature., Layered with Texture, Leaves , Live, Love, Dream: , Lost in Space [75% Negative Space], Macro Untouched. 2 per day only (closed for reno), Macro Water Photographic Gallery, Made By Nature - {2 a day} - {challenge theme only!}, Made In Digital, Masterpiece: Photography, Mecha Mecca, Mood & Ambience - Strictly Photos, Mother Nature's Finest, Mysteries of the Common(2 per day), Natural Textures, Nature's Macro Canvas (No flowers or insects), Nature's Wonders, new and up coming manipulatid art, Newfangled, Nonedited Photography, No More Color, One Single Flower On Show.. 2 Photo's per day, Out of the Blue (75%+ Blue), Painters In Modern Times - TWO PER DAY, Paws n Claws <3 per day><Domestic cats & dogs only>, People and Portraiture Photography, Personal Meaning Photography, Pets Are Us ~ 2 per day, Photo Manipulators, Photographers of Redbubble-Looking for someone to take over group...apply within, Photographers self portrait, Photography - Rule of Thirds, Photography 101, Photography Fun, PixElations - The Art of Photoshop, Playful Photogenic Animals, Pop Art, Portraits in Natural Light, Prize Challenges!!, Purple Passion Gallery. 2 per day , Rain Drops & Water Art - Fresh Water Only!, Retro Tees., Rusty, Crusty and Falling to Bits - 2 Per 24 Hours, Self as Other, Sepia Only, Shades of Grey, Shameless Self-Promotion, Shapes & Patterns - Limit of 2 images per day, Simply White Artwork Gallery - 95% White !, Slogan Tees, Soul reflections, Speaking Photos (Storytelling) - 2 per day -, Splatter, Smudge, Smear & Drip! , Split Tone Black & White, Spring Blooms - 2 per day, Strictly Human Faces , Style! Class! Elegance! Excellence!, Tee HQ, Textured Abstract, Textures Unlimited, The Addicted Photographer►2 Per Day◄, The Beauty of Nature (Nothing Man-Made), The Birds, The Black and White Enthusiast, The Fine Art of Photography, The Graphic Room-Graphic and Digital Art, The Grunge Art Gallery, The Human Condition, THE PHOTOGRAPHERS VAULT, The power of simplicity (Photography only), THE SISTERHOOD, The true beauty, THE WAIST UP - Portraiture Photography 2 per 24 hour limit, The Woman Photographer **7 Submissions a week only please**, Time to watch clocks, Tom Ang's Masterclass, Top Shelf Wildlife & Nature Art, Trees - 2 images per day with trees as the focal point, TUTORIALS (Help and Advice forums), Unconventional Artistry - 3 per day, Universal Innovation, Unlimited Quality, Untouched - Theme this week - Lights please see challenge for more info., Vector Goodness Lounge, Vibrant and Vivid Color, Vibrant Plants, Visual Texture(no pornography,nudes or offensive works), Wedding Inspiration Group, Weekly Theme Challenges, Who Needs Color For Beauty? - Black & White Art At Its Best, Woman Appreciation, WTF are you wearing?!, Yellow Two, You're Accepted, ≈• Monochrome •≈ (No Black and White!) and ≈♥≈The Weekend Photographer≈♥≈.

Journal Entries

Tee Shirts Have Arrived

Posted 19 days ago, 4 comments so far.

Five Features in the Past Two Days.

Posted 20 days ago, 2 comments so far.

Thanks for the Feature in Photography 101

Posted 23 days ago.