Melena Neuenschwander

Melena Neuenschwander is an Ohio-based artist who has always been at home when she is being creative in one way or another. She has dabbled in painting, carving, sketching, and photography, and then found her truest expression in a surprising medium: concrete.
Her inspiration comes from her love of travel and nature. Whether kayaking rivers and lakes, running the foothills of the Bavarian Alps, wandering the cobblestone streets of European villages, taking in countless sunrises and sunsets, or early morning walks on beaches and rocky coastlines. Every piece of her concrete art captures the essence of a place encountered and a memory made. The colors are not fabricated; they are recollected. 

Melena's Concrete Art is available in 3 different techniques:

Natural Concrete — Raw and honest. The concrete speaks for itself, minimalist, and elemental. Slight color variations and pinholes in the curing process makes each piece different even if it comes from the same mold.
Pigmented Concrete — Earthy tones of color added to the concrete during mixing. Some pieces carry a single solid color; others reveal several layers of pigment that shift and blend as the concrete cures. Every piece is unique, the variation in tone and pattern is part of the process, not a flaw.
Gallery Collections — Each Gallery Collection piece is born from a deliberate, unhurried process. Small batches of pigmented concrete are layered by hand directly into the mold and each coat is applied with intention, leaving subtle pockets of air that become part of the surface itself. As the layers build, those voids evolve into the kind of texture that only time and weathering can create in nature. It is a process that defies repetition, even by the artist herself. Each Gallery Collection piece is truly one of a kind. Signed and dated by Melena.

Her most recent work, Cove Gallery Collection is rich with aqua blues and sandy browns. It was created for Cove, an ocean-themed gallery in Bradenton Beach, Florida. The collection includes vases, accent bowls, portly beach birds, and bowls with turquoise gemstones cast directly into the concrete.
Melena's full collection of concrete art features everything from vases, accent bowls, and trays to seasonal pieces including pumpkins, Christmas trees, ornaments, and much more.

Her website is constantly evolving with new one of a kind pieces with a story, as she creates them. Check back often to see what's new.