Melissa J. Stone (°1957, Van Nuys, California, USA) is an artist who works in digital media. My work as a fine artist and illustration artist started when my spouse suggested to me that I should look at entering a show that was going to be held on my 57th birthday in San Francisco. That show was "The Murray Affair" a Tribute Show of artwork about Bill Murray at SF Public Works on August 8, 2014. You can see that piece on the web site here. From that point on, I have been exploring various ways of expressing my point-of-view in a more personal way than my design work. My artwork directly responds to the surrounding environment and uses everyday experiences (and daydreams) as a starting point. Often these are framed instances that would go unnoticed in their original context. By focusing on learning a new pathway, I challenge myself by expanding my digital techniques. I try to approach a wide scale of subjects in a multi-layered way, and I like to involve the viewer in a way that is sometimes physical. I believe in the idea of function following form in a work. My works are notable for their visually tactile nature. This is of great importance and bears witness to continued craftsmanship. With a conceptual approach, I try to increase the dynamic between audience and artwork by objectifying emotions and investigating the duality that develops through different interpretations. By using traditional printing materials, I find that I can blur the line between fine art and illustration and give my viewer an experience, not just a viewing. My work never shows the complete structure. This is the result of the fact that the I can imagine my own interpretation without being hindered by the historical reality. All of my artwork begins in Adobe Illustrator™. After many hours, those files export into Adobe Photoshop™ files where experimentation with color, texture, & context occur and more layers are added. My Adobe Photoshop™ files for each of my works often exceed 100 layers. Melissa Stone currently lives and works in Sonoma.