Instagram story viewer> @messymiddleart> Posts

Melanie | Messy Middle Art

@messymiddleart

234

followers

199

following

🎨watercolor, acrylics, & perhaps some clay
🏄🏻‍♀️riding the messy middle of my creative journey
DM for commissions

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Hi. 👋

I’m Melanie. I’m a teacher, singer, painter, aspiring ceramicist and pianist. I wish I spoke more languages fluently, had a culinary degree, knew how to garden and to dance professionally. Thanks to some generous souls who entrusted me with some pup portraits in April of 2020, and with the help of Julia Cameron’s "The Artist’s Way," I have spent the past year or so unlearning perfectionism to make room for a growth-oriented art practice.

The "Messy Middle" of Messy Middle Art is derived from a phrase I heard in the art world called "the ugly middle" (thanks @laurelgreenfieldart). What is the messy or ugly middle? In a painting, it's that middle part of the process where everything looks askew. The colors aren't quite right, the shapes are questionable. It's the part that makes us want to give up, where insecurity sets in and our brains are shouting "You really thought you could do this?" In a fixed mindset, it's what you think is the end of the road. In actuality, you've reached the messy middle. Ugly is part of the process! This is where we get to problem-solve and play, where we learn to trust ourselves so we can get where we want to go.

I see messy middles show up in my singing, in my teaching, in my wife-ing. The more messy middles I navigate, the more I trust that the results I am seeing in the moment are not my full potential. I am learning and I am growing. Embracing messy middles has helped me suspend judgement and be kinder to myself in my process (I no longer cringe when I playback my voice lesson recordings and berate myself for not sounding like Barbara Streisand). I've created this account so that you can follow along on my messy middle journey. I hope it inspires you to embrace some messy middles of your own.

(Thanks to my husband Ezra for indulging me in this photo shoot 😂. Scroll right to see his fav photo from the afternoon)

#watercolor #theartistway #watercolorportrait #watercolorpetportrait #art #introduction #hello #processoverproduct #artrepreneur by @messymiddleart

67

44

5 years ago

Day 5: King Eider

@birbfest.challenge @monkeymintaka #birbs #birbfest #birbfest2026 #birbfestchallenge #watercolor #watercolorbird #watercolorbirds #birds #birdart by @messymiddleart

12

1

9 months ago

Day 4: golden headed manakin

@birbfest.challenge @monkeymintaka #birbs #birbfest #birbfest2026 #birbfestchallenge #watercolor #watercolorbird #watercolorbirds #goldenheadedmanakin #birds #birdart by @messymiddleart

12

0

9 months ago

January 2: Many-Colored Rush Tyrant! Did two of these, one in watercolor with the pink background and one in gauche with white ink on top.

#birbfest #birbfest2026 #manycoloredrushtyrant #watercolor #watercolorbirds by @messymiddleart

15

2

10 months ago

Joining #birbfest where I paint a designated bird every day of January. I skipped January of last year so I’m excited to be doing this again and challenging myself to get into a daily practice of art. I played around with watercolor and pastel for these bronze wing pigeons. Such a fancy pigeon if you look them up online. Stay tuned for more birds and check out @birbfest.challenge to see other people’s work!

#birb #birbfest #birbfest2026 #birds #watercolorbird #watercolorbirds #bronzewingpigeon #watercolor by @messymiddleart

15

2

10 months ago

I originally made this piece for a friends nursery! Finally getting around to making prints and it is now available on my Etsy. Check out the last photo to see my construction vehicle painting that I made along with this one as a set. I attempted to make a set of 3 but didn’t like the final painting. Going to add a third soon. I’m thinking something with tires/wheels or construction hats 😍.

#watercolor #watercolorpainting #watercolorart #watercolornursery #nursery #baby #babyboy #babygirl #babyart #nurseryart #ontheroad #vanlife #vanpainting #art #vehicle by @messymiddleart

14

1

2 years ago

New print on the Etsy! This one is called Strawberry Moon! I made it while bouncing on a birthing ball when I thought I was in labor and was sure the Strawberry Moon had kickstarted the process. Turns out baby boy would only arrive a week later on a different moon 😂🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️. I still love the painting regardless. 😍

If you want a 8x10 print of the moon phases in fruit, snag it from my Etsy shop!

To frame the original in my nursery, I cut down the painting from 10x14 to 7x14.

#moon #moonphases #strawberrymoon #strawberry #fruits #fruitwatercolor #strawberrymoonart #watercolor #watercolorpainting #solarsystem #moonart #watercolormoon #art #berries #watercolorfruit by @messymiddleart

36

4

2 years ago

After all the momentum of painting birds each day in January, I was eager to continue the painting haul in the month of February. Can’t believe it’s already February 13th and I’ve only been able to paint a couple pieces. I was knocked out by a cold last week that did me in and each day that I couldn’t create felt so defeating. I watched @tarnincolour’s tutorial on watercolor and ink sketching today, and he inspired me to try out some sketching with a reference photo I took in Bar Harbor, ME (swipe right for the photo). It was really freeing and exciting to be able to paint again and to do so with some professional guidance. I’m hoping to take these skills with me on vacation soon and share some sketches from my travels.

#allankirk #urbansketching #landscapewatercolor #watercolor #landscapewatercolorpainting #barharbor #barharbormaine #barharborpainting #sailboats #watercolorart #watercolorpainting #inkandwatercolor by @messymiddleart

25

3

3 years ago

Day 31: white-browed tit warbler

It’s the last day of @birbfest.challenge! I’m proud to make it the end and grateful for this challenge that has helped get me back into a good creative routine. Painting daily has been so beneficial to my mental health. As a preschool teacher, I am used to play-based educators talking about how children enter a flow state when they are deeply immersed in their play. Flow states allow us to lose track of time while we engage in meaningful growing experiences. No doubt painting is a place where I get to play as an adult and enter back into my flow. Excited to see where the next challenge takes me in February! Thanks for following along!

#birbfest2024 #birdart #bird #birds#birdpainting #birdwatercolor #watercolor #watercolorbird #guache #guachepainting #windsorandnewton #whitebrowedtitwarbler by @messymiddleart

23

0

3 years ago

Day 29: snow bunting

This month flew by though I’m really ready for warmer weather! Only two more birds! @birbfest.challenge

#birbfest2024 #birdart #bird #birds#birdpainting #birdwatercolor #watercolor #watercolorbird #guache #guachepainting #birbfest #snowbunting by @messymiddleart

14

0

3 years ago

Day 28: red and yellow barbet

@birbfest.challenge

#birbfest2024 #birdart #bird #birds#birdpainting #birdwatercolor #watercolor #watercolorbird #guache #guachepainting #redandyellowbarbet #barbet by @messymiddleart

11

0

3 years ago

Day 27: Pukeko aka Australasian Swamphen

After playing around with a background on my bird yesterday, I decided to attempt another background that has some subtle detail in it today. Swipe right to see the birds with a background. Turns out I like the white background better so I photoshopped it out to create the first image here. It feels good to have the freedom to play around, figure out what I like and keep experimenting. Only 4 for days of @birbfest.challenge.

#birbfest2024 #birdart #bird #birds#birdpainting #birdwatercolor #watercolor #watercolorbird #guache #guachepainting #swamphen #pukeko #australasianswamphen #birbfest by @messymiddleart

16

1

3 years ago