Pikes Peak Region Trail Finder

By KIMBERLY NICOLETTI, SUMMIT DAILY NEWS

When Sara Melzer moved to Vail five years ago, she was “so overcome with how everyone has the same thing on their minds all the time,” she was compelled to capture that energy in her art. So she began painting portraits of all the ski bums she came across.

Now, she supports herself through her vibrant skier and snowboarder portraits, as well as her landscapes, the latter of which she's been focusing more upon lately.

“The landscapes are really youthful and unique and have therefore been quite well received in Breckenridge,” she said.

At 28, she's the youngest artist represented at the local Breckenridge co-op Arts Alive gallery and was one of the top-selling artists in 2011, her first year there.

She earned her bachelor's degree in studio arts at University of Colorado in Boulder and spent the last five years in Vail perfecting a technique she invented using india ink on extra glossy photo paper.

“It's an organic process,” she said. “I can never recreate the same thing twice.”

Read full story