Meet Melanie Damore | Owner and Instructor of Denver Art Days

We had the good fortune of connecting with Melanie Damore and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melanie, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I had a pretty gnarly experience my last few years as a public school teacher, and when my mental health started to take a dip, I knew I needed a change. I had never worked in any other occupation, but knew I had a strong art and design background. I used my summer off to get my UX certification condensing a 6 month program into 2. I was going to school from 7am – 5pm that way I could get a tech position by September, or at least begin the application process. Unfortunately with the tech layoffs, jobs were sparse and extremely competitive.

I left my teaching position in late September for a UX opportunity that ended up falling through and was left unemployed. Needing to pay for rent and all of my wonderful, expensive Colorado hobbies, I started teaching classes at breweries as well as hosting private events under the name Denver Art Days. I have absolutely loved working with all ages, sharing my creative skills, and fostering lighthearted confidence from my clients. With my graphic design background, UX certification, and teaching experience, I have been able to begin building my business from the ground up.

Looking back has been really valuable. All of my struggles, long days, and over 350 tech job rejections lead me to doing exactly what I really wanted to do but never thought was possible. My circumstances forced me to ignore my inhibitions and fears of failure and take a leap of faith, and I am so proud of my journey.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started Denver Art Days to share my love of visual arts with others, and with the intent to someday open my own studio where I can offer classes, display my paintings, and mentor other artists to chase their creative endeavors. The hardest part of my journey currently is balancing all of my different roles. I am not only the sole Owner and Teacher for Denver Art Days, but I am also a full-time Administrative Assistant and an Adventure Therapy Coach for a non-profit organization that provides therapeutic services to Denver’s youth. On top of all that, I am also working as a freelance painter. Even though I am working more hours than ever before, I feel I am already leading the most wonderful life doing exactly what I want.

As a painter, I am completely addicted to depicting the weird, imperfect beauty found in nature; primarily imperfect, aging, or broken flowers. I got the idea for this series while at a botanical garden where everyone appeared to have this expectation for every flower to be perfectly blooming, vibrant, and standing tall when the reality was several plants hadn’t yet recovered from winter. It made me think of the human condition. We are all imperfect, aging, and sometimes have trouble standing tall. During my experiences working with many at-risk youth, I have seen a lot of challenging life circumstances and a lot of humans having trouble standing tall. This series of flower portraits is about beautifying imperfection, embracing our wrinkles, standing tall, and growing through our challenges.

I’ve also been working on creating more impressionistic mountain depictions of the gorgeous, colorful, and unique landscapes in Colorado. I am an avid outdoorswoman, hiker, backpacker, kayaker, traveler, and can’t help but immortalize the incredible views I’ve seen. I love the challenges associated with painting landscapes and have big plans for continuing this Colorado series in an impactful way.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Explore: A hike in Boulder Open Space
or Eldorado Canyon State Park
or Golden Gate Canyon State Park
A sunset drive through Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge

Places to Eat:
Brunch at Syrup or Snooze
Boozey Brunch at Ohana Grille
Work & Class for best tapas
Pho on 6th
Kyu Ramen

Museums & Art
The Contemporary Museum of Western Art has several Albert Bierstadt landscape paintings that everyone needs to see.

Breweries:
Great Divide Barrel Bar has amazing brews and an even better community.
Odell near Sloan’s Lake

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Colorado has given me the most incredible community of friends. My group of friends, that began as a running group, has been cheering me on, sharing my social media posts, helping my outreach, and supporting my events from the very beginning. I am beyond grateful for the Denver community that has gone above and beyond to support me.

One person in particular has been my biggest cheerleader from day one. Her consistent encouragement convinced me that my skills greatly outweighed my failures and to take leaps of faith towards my dreams. I use the word “dreams” very intentionally, because I never thought that I had the ability to build my own business. She helped me understand how unique and diverse my experiences have made me and encouraged me to run towards building my brand. She has never doubted me for a second and has carried me through some really difficult days. She consistently puts the needs of others above her own, has the most incredible attitude, and glows with lightheartedness. Her presence has changed my life for the better. Her name is Megan Wahlquist and she is an Architectural Designer and my best friend.

Website: www.melaniedamore.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melanieday_art/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melaniedamore/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/462070122527642

Other: https://www.instagram.com/melanieeeday/