Melanie (Melly) Testa

My week in review

In all available time, I have been printing, batching and steaming. I keep daydreaming new images, but have not yet had time to gather my thoughts. I came across a how-to make your own citrus cleanser on the web and am trying it out. I soaked orange peel in vinegar for two weeks. I amContinue reading “My week in review”

A New Day

In the Many Mellys post, I stepped quite squarely into a hornets nest. I would like to apologize if I have upset or harmed anyone by my use of the words gender queer. While I think there are many similarities and points of connection between being a flat chested woman (as a result of breast cancer)Continue reading “A New Day”

Fruit

Last week I carved this fruit set. I don’t know how many stamps, stencils and carvings this set is composed of. I am batching today. My result so far are very interesting A full report to come. I will be printing this image again this week. Check back in!!

Many Mellys

Brace yourself, this is a long one. In the above photo I am wearing a Handful Bra with padded inserts and the camisole I am wearing says, ‘Well-behaved women seldom make history’. This week, I read Stephanie Forsyth’s post called, ‘I Yam What I Yam‘, where she talks about being a potty mouth, beer guzzling,Continue reading “Many Mellys”

working out the kinks

I am working hard behind the scenes here, at Studio Melly. A few months back, I was printing some birds from The 20 only to find that my wash out rate was too high while printing with Procion MX dyes on cloth. I wasn’t getting the intensity of color, or the bold, bright colors IContinue reading “working out the kinks”

Strong Curves

The week I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I realized the only thing I wasn’t doing to be the healthiest person I possibly could, was exercise. When I told my breast surgeon that it was time to start, she laughed at me and said, “you get diagnosed with breast cancer and you think it meansContinue reading “Strong Curves”

Still Here, after all these years.

I have been quiet for a long time. I am well. I am feeling better and better and have been sinking deeply into my creative process. To be honest, recovering from cancer treatment and getting used to being a flat chested woman is not easy. There are the physical concerns, feeling as if I haveContinue reading “Still Here, after all these years.”

Printing, printing, printing.

I have been printing away over here. Some pieces are batching, some washed, some on paper, some cloth. Today will be a continued day of printing. I find I like working small. These cloth pieces are about 8×12, or just a bit bigger. Previously I worked on fat quarters, 18×22″ or so. I find whatContinue reading “Printing, printing, printing.”

Relearn

I have become lackadaisical in my use of Procion MX dyes, so I asked a fabulous teacher, who has had a profound effect on my own work with MX dyes to help me troubleshoot and identify my issues. If you know me, you might know who I am talking about, but because I have notContinue reading “Relearn”

Multipass

The title of this post refers to the movie The Fifth Element, with Mila Jovovich. Mila’s character wants to travel and needs a multipass to do so (a multipass is a sort of passport). She goes to the airport and looks at the gate keeper and repeats the word, ‘Multipass’ in an accent that hasContinue reading “Multipass”