Benny Melton’s earliest inspiration for art came from his mother’s sketches of characters from the Memphis Commercial Appeal’s Sunday Comics, an aunt’s powerfully emotive collection of pastel portraits of her children by an artist from New Orleans and an aunt that was a professional artist based in Holmes County, Mississippi. The combined influence of these three women is demonstrated in Benny’s work ethic as well as his aesthetic.

When painting, Benny prefers oil paints and hard surface grounds of birch plywood or Masonite board. Frames and supports are hand built to add a more personal note to the overall presentation. The sturdy structure of the supports facilitates spontaneous application of pigments for starts and the occasional aggressive use of reductive techniques to establish lights and darks of the composition.

With a preference for narrative themes, Benny’s work frequently relies on painting from visual observation of his immediate surroundings. He received training in various approaches in drawing and painting with an emphasis on working from direct observation.

Benny enjoyed teaching Art at the University of Mississippi, Memphis College of Art, and a one-year stint teaching art at Yazoo City High School. While in graduate school Benny won several awards, including the University of Mississippi Art Department Outstanding Studio Artist award, First Place in Painting in the Mississippi Collegiate Art Competition, The Powerhouse Peoples’ Choice Award Oxford, MS and First Place at The Cedars Annual Invitational in Jackson, MS.

“I like listening to stories almost as much as telling them. My paintings are essentially loosely painted stories that begin somewhere in the middle of things.”