2024 Ohio Watercolor Society Jim Brower Lifetime Achievement Award

Mel Grunau

Berea, Ohio

Mel's journey as an artist began as a child. Growing up in Cleveland, he was surrounded by the sights and sounds of the Cleveland flats, once the home of giant industrial steel mills. His drawings from early childhood often reflected his interest in those industrial settings and one of his earliest art memories is copying a picture of an oil refinery from a magazine at about age eight. In fifth grade he was the lucky

recipient of a scholarship to Saturday Academy classes at the Cleveland Institute of Art which instilled a love for drawing and painting. In high school, he was encouraged by his mechanical drawing teacher, Lynn Bell, who connected him with a job at an engineering company that also had an architecture department. Working here for nine months before college put Mel on a path toward engineering, but after a few introductory classes at Ohio State University, he quickly learned he was better suited to the

arts, rather than the sciences. Noting that his weekly letters to her were often filled with more drawings than words, his girlfriend Sue encouraged Mel to switch his major to studio art. He transferred to Baldwin Wallace University (BW) to be nearer to Sue (now his wife of 65 years), was mentored by Helen Leon who was instrumental in teaching him design and how to structure a painting, and graduated

from BW with his Bachelor of Arts.

With a young family started, Mel worked for five years in banking as ahead teller. Before long, he assessed that the career path to bank manager did not play to his strengths or interests, so he returned to the engineering company where he had worked after high school. They invited him to join the architecture department where he trained as a draftsman. After a few years, he moved to one of Cleveland's premiere architecture firms where he continued to apply his artistic sensibilities to build projects, including an ICU addition to Cleveland Clinic. He studied watercolor painting under Fred Leach for several years to master the art of architectural rendering in watercolor. Fred inspired him to continue fine art painting while simultaneously developing his career in architecture and it was during this time that Mel became one of the 17 charter members who founded the Ohio Watercolor Society (OWS). He served as co-chair of the OWS annual exhibit and chair of a regional northern Ohio exhibit for OWS.

Mel went back to school to earn a Master of Architecture degree from Kent State University and became a licensed architect. He built a 37-year career in architecture, working at several firms in the Cleveland area and sharing his expertise on projects throughout northeast Ohio including a residence hall at Hiram College and a chapel at Our Lady of the Elms Convent.

For more than 50 years, Mel has shared his passion for art with adults by teaching watercolor, drawing, oil painting, and collage. He has taught at Polaris Career Center (35 years). Bay Arts, Beck Center, and innumerable private classes and workshops.

It's difficult to pinpoint a singular style when reviewing Mel's body of work. He still draws inspiration from the areas along the Cuyahoga River and several of his works reflect his fondness for the Cleveland Flats. The Cleveland Metroparks and Cuyahoga Valley National Park provide natural appeal for his landscapes and still life paintings which reflect the multiple landforms and varied horticulture of this beautiful area. His abstract work allows for further artistic expression with abroad range of mediums from watercolor and acrylics to pastel, oil, and collage.

Mel's work has been published in numerous art book collections, including Splash: The Best of Watermedia (volumes 10, 13 &15), incite: The Best of Mixed Media (volumes 1, 2, 3 &4), Acrylic Works: The Best of Acrylic Painting (volumes 4,8 &10), Abstract Painting:  A Celebration of Contemporary Art; and in magazines including Acrylic Magazine, Artist's Magazine, Pastel Journal Magazine, and Watercolor Magazine. His work is in corporate and private collections worldwide.

Over the course of his career, Mel has been an active member of numerous art societies, including the Ohio Watercolor Society {Charter and Signature Member), American Watercolor Society, International Society of Acrylic Painters, Paint America Association, Oil Painters of America, and the International Society of Experimental Artists.