Melissa Franklin Sanchez

"Spring in the Garden" realist painting of cherry blossom blooming

2024

Melissa Franklin Sanchez is an East End resident every summer, but also a graduate and instructor at the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. Sanchez studied dance and acting in the UK before she moved to Florence. Painting on copper, which was a 17th-century innovation, has allowed her also to pursue her classical orientation, but with an updated look. In 2002, she graduated from her humanistic studies: art, music, English literature, performing arts and ballet. In 2003, she completed an intensive art foundation course at the Slade School of Art, London. She then enrolled at the Florence Academy of Art, a school dedicated to the study of realistic and figurative art. She graduated with a three-year diploma in painting and was offered a fourth year of specialization. Her work is currently represented in both Europe and the USA by InPARADISO Art Gallery in Venice, Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor, New York and Jack Meier Gallery, Houston, Texas. She is also an artist member of the Concilio delli’Arte. Her love of Italy, its culture, beauty and tradition will continue to be an inspiration for her life and her work. Recently, Sanchez has created a series of paintings inspired by her new home in Fiesole. She sought after gem-like interiors are inspired by the likes of celebrated Danish painter Vilhelm Hammershøi, with their dramatic lighting and a deep sense of intimacy. Sanchez has made an important shift from painting on copper panels to aluminum panels to create more ambitious larger images.