A Christmas Holiday window painting located at Tim Hortons, 1167 Garrison Road, Fort Erie Ontario.

My goal was to do more than decorate, I wanted to bring some cheer to our town. Although these window paintings are temporary, they will be enjoyed by many.

This image was challenging as it spanned 4 windows and had to be recognizable as the Peace Bridge. A lady pointed out that it should have the US and Canadian flags on the bridge. I was thankful for the help! 

The Tim Hortons staff have been very hospitable and I thank them for their hard work.

I've been have been enjoying painting Tim Hortons restaurant Christmas holiday windows across south Niagara (Ridgeway/Crystal Beach and Port Colborne Ontario for the past week). Contact Melani Pyke now to book your shop for Christmas window artwork!

I've met so many great people along the way, and received all good feedback from my enthusiastic coffee-drinking audience. This morning I bought breakfast for a homeless man so he could come in the Tim Hortons and warm up, and then tonight I managed not to witness a car accident that happened just outside of the windows I was painting! I must have really been in the zone.

Tim Hortons on Main W., Port Colborne ON received a penguin theme.

Birds found locally in wintertime is the theme of the decor at the Tims at the corner of Hwy 3 & 140, Port Colborne ON

Next week I tackle the Fort Erie and Stevensville Tim Hortons stores. 

A custom storefront Holiday window painting at a south Niagara Ontario, Canada Tim Hortons restaurant. This is one in a series of window paintings as I continue my painting marathon. I enjoyed using my graphic design eye and taking typical Christmas symbols and making them fun and relevant to the business.

Located in the Tim Hortons/ Little Ceasar's on West Side Road, Port Colborne Ontario

I had a blast designing and painting the kids' handprint tree mural at Calvary Church, St. Catharines Ontario Canada.

On Friday November 1st, 2013, I was honoured to create a live inspirational painting at the Brant Pregnancy & Resource Centre's annual fundraiser banquet. The theme was Life is Beautiful, so I created this 36x24" acrylic painting on canvas for the event, which was auctioned off to benefit the Centre. Here is the photo of the garden which I had taken a few weeks ago in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, which I used for the background:

This is the fourth time I've painted at this annual event, and it's so much fun to see familiar faces and to be greeted with such enthusiasm and appreciation for what I do. The Brant Pregnancy and Resource Centre is such a great cause that's truly making a difference in the communities of Brantford and Paris Ontario.

Here is the story of the 8x6' Tuscan scene wall mural painting I recently completed in a home in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, and photos of the Mel Pyke masterpiece in stages:

We set up scaffolding and I trowelled 2 walls with venetian plaster, so the wall would look like an exterior wall, and the painting would look 3D.

I masked off where the frame around the scene was to be painted in, and created some rolling hills and mountains in the distance. The painting is done in professional quality acrylic paints. I chose acrylic for its drying speed, versatility, and range of bold colours.  I suppose to be a truly authentic Italian fresco, I should have mixed the raw pigments in plaster. I would have had to research these techniques further... To work with pure pigments would require me to deal with expensive and often highly toxic chemicals, which was not advisable for this project.

This is the painting under the painting. The underlayer had very vivid oranges and yellows, and we changed the time of day from this morning look to more of a warm afternoon look. You will notice the difference as you scroll down.

Here I was starting to block in the house, and brought in a field of poppies in the foreground.

Two mourning doves and decorative doors were the finishing touches to make you feel like you could walk into the painting and feel the warm breeze. (Unfortunately, the platform is in the way, so I wasn't able to get a photo of it as it is meant to be seen. Check back soon for more pics.) The home owners are thrilled and I am exhausted but happy to have been able to complete work this quality in this large scale.

Thank you, Tony and Sandra, for allowing me and my mess to invade your home for a week and a half!

I enjoyed being a part of the Red Ribbon Art Exhibition this weekend in Ridgeway Ontario Canada. This art show is an annual fundraiser for the Fort Erie Arts Council. I was pleased to present 3 recent Melani Pyke oil and acrylic paintings to the public, along with a sculpted/painted mannequin statue, which was auctioned off on Saturday night:

It was a pleasure talking to other artists and all of those who came out to support this wonderful south Niagara community art event. It's always interesting chatting with individuals who have maybe dabbled with painting in the past, and are longing to take it up again, especially after visiting an art exhibit like this one. I always encourage people to make the time to paint, even if they never show anybody what they make, the very act of creating and playing with colour brings out the kid in you and can be relaxing and satisfying. I am happy to share some simple techniques to try, or what subject matter is an easy one to start with (flowers are great!) I tried sculpture with this mannequin piece, it was out of my comfort zone and I both loved and hated the challenge, so it was a good stretch. Always stretch yourself, try something new, and do something that scares you. Once you finish it (even if it turns out mediocre) you will feel like you have superpowers because you buckled down and did it.

I was happy/sad to see two of my oil paintings go today. They were larger pieces that were shipped to California and Florida, one a thank you gift and the other a custom portrait painting order. I took the larger oil painting off the stretcher frame to ship it more safely rolled in a tube. The smaller was shipped within a ton of padding in a cardboard box. Driving them across the border and shipping them by USPS from Niagara Falls NY was the right thing to do, since they could guarantee a short shipping time, and it was a lot less expensive than it would have been to send them from here! Special thanks to Dianne and Dave Rizzo for introducing me to the proper paperwork and procedures to export artwork properly and officially. May they arrive in one piece.