AT THE AGE OF FOUR, Krystii Melaine announced that she was going to be an artist. At seven she won her first art competition, and she was taking commissions for paintings by the age of fourteen. Following studies in painting, drawing, photography, and graphic design, Melaine established her own fashion design company, developing it into one of the largest bridal-wear companies in Australia.
A desire to return to painting led to five years studying traditional tonal realism, and a thirty-year career as a successful realist painter. Inspired by people and animals, Melaine has focused on the American West, exploring its diverse cultures, horses and wildlife. With her shift to pale or colorful abstract backgrounds on many paintings, she brings a fresh, modern look to Western and wildlife art.
Melaine regularly participates in major museum exhibitions and has won numerous awards including two museum purchase awards. Three life-size, full-length portraits of Native Americans were acquired by the Booth Western Art Museum in Georgia. In 2023, Krystii was awarded the Artist of Distinction at Quest for the West, providing a retrospective exhibition of her works in the Eiteljorg Museum in 2024. Of her creations, Melaine says “I hope my paintings make people feel happiness and a connection to our natural world on a deeper level.”
Notable Awards and Achievements
2023 Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians & Western Art, Quest for the West, Artist of Distinction Award
2019 Hockaday Museum of Art, A Timeless Legacy, Van Kirke Nelson Hockaday Purchase Award
2019 Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale, Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine Award
2018 Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians & Western Art, Quest for the West, Harrison Eiteljorg Purchase Award and Patrons’ Choice Award
2018 Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Cowgirl Up!, People’s Choice Award
2017 Autry Museum of the American West, Masters of the American West, Merit Award
2016 Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Quest for the West, Patrons’ Choice Award
2016 American Women Artists National Juried Exhibition, Bennington Center for the Arts, Visitors’ Choice Award
2015 Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale, Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine Award
2015 Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Quest for the West, Patrons’ Choice Award
2015 American Women Artists National Juried Exhibition, Friends of Western Art Award
2014 Portrait Society of America, Members Only Competition, First Merit Award–Commissioned Portrait
2012 Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Cowgirl Up!, First Prize Two-Dimensional on Canvas
2012 Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Cowgirl Up!, Artists’ Choice Award
2011 The Legacy Gallery, Scottsdale Salon of Fine Art, Western Award
2009 Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Cowgirl Up!, First Prize Two-Dimensional
Memberships
American Women Artists, Master Signature Member
Portrait Society of America, Member
Gallery Representation
Sanders Galleries, Tucson, Arizona
Broadmoor Galleries, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Mountain Trails Galleries, Jackson, Wyoming, Park City, Utah, and Bozeman, Montana
Big Horn Galleries, Cody, Wyoming, and Tubac, Arizona
Going to the Sun Gallery, Whitefish, Montana
Santa Fe Trails Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico
The Marshall Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
Trailside Galleries, online