The Paducah Sun - Traveling artist stops in Paducah

Corianne Egan | The Sun Work by Elisabeth Melkonyan. The bottom row shows more detailed sketches of the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers, while the top row shows abstract interpretations.

Corianne Egan | The Sun Elisabeth Melkonyan, a native of Austria, works in A.I.R. Studio on Tuesday. Melkonyan is ending a two-week visit to Paducah as part of the Artist in Residency program sponsored by the Paducah Arts Alliance.

Corianne Egan | The Sun Four abstract portraits, inspired by the Ohio and Tennessee rivers, painted by Elisabeth Melkonyan.

For Elisabeth Melkonyan, Paducah is just one stop on her fabulous art-inspired tour of the world.

She has already studied in Spain and London, visited the sarcophagi — ancient tombs — of Egypt, and has worked in Hungary and Japan. Her two-week long stop in Paducah at the A.I.R. Studio on seventh Street was just an added bonus.

“I love this place,” Melkonyan, an Austria native, said. “I wish I had so much more time. It is beautiful.”

Melkonyan spent her time in the city as part of the Paducah Arts Alliance’s Artist in Residency program. In her two weeks, she has offered workshops on working with natural fibers at the A.I.R. Studio and working with area artists. The native of Tyrol, Austria, also spent time working with ceramics, painting, and completing several Paducah-inspired pieces.

“I love the river here,” Melkonyan said. “It is so inspiring. A lot of my work is inspired by location, along with nature and history. This place has all of that.”

Even more numerous than her travel destinations are the media that Melkonyan works in. The artist doesn’t just specialize in painting and print making, she also works in three-dimensional natural fibers, ceramics and abstracts.

During her two-week stay, Melkonyan also worked on several sketches of subjects at Et cetera Coffeehouse and Free Spirit Motorcycle Ministry.

The Artist in Residency program has brought 25 artists in to Paducah since its creation three years ago. The program allows artists from around the world to come to Paducah for up to a month in the A.I.R. Studio on Madison Street.

A.I.R. will host Liz Vauhan, a mixed media artist out of South Carolina, in coming weeks.

Although Melkonyan is slated to leave Paducah on Friday, she has plans for the area in her future. Part of those plans, she said, involves coming back to Paducah to work more with the artists in the area, and she is also considering organizing an exhibition for Paducah artists in her native Austria.

“There was so much, and the nature around the area is just so beautiful,” she said. “Paducah is truly inspiring.”