some cows I have known
Melanie Stokes Art
Oil
January 30, 2026
March 30, 2026
Melanie Stokes draws you into the herd—where humor, tenderness, and Texas light reveal character in a single look.
In Some Cows I Have Known, Melanie Stokes turns her attention to a familiar Texas presence—cattle—not as symbols or scenery, but as individuals. These works move between ranch-life realism and quiet intimacy, inviting you to notice posture, expression, and the small moments that reveal temperament. There’s a tenderness here that resists sentimentality: an honest regard for animals that carry weight in our landscapes and our lives. The exhibition holds space for humor and grit, for the beauty of routine, and for the bond that forms when you spend enough time simply watching. Step in close. Let each image introduce you to a distinct character—known not by name alone, but by memory, mood, and presence.
“The ruffled fur and sleepy eyes contribute to my depiction of what a cow might look like ‘before coffee’… if cows drank coffee, that is.”
In Before Coffee, Stokes gives us a portrait that feels both iconic and intimately observed. Against a calm blue-green ground, the cow’s dark form gathers into broad, confident brushwork—ruffled fur, heavy-lidded eyes, a softened muzzle. The title introduces a wink of humor, but the painting lingers on something quieter: that in-between state where personality shows before the day fully begins.
The joke lands because the empathy is real. Stokes treats “sleepy” not as caricature, but as character—an animal rendered with the same dignity we reserve for human portraiture.
The Artist
Melanie M. Stokes was born in Macon, Georgia, and grew up in Statesboro. She earned a B.A. in Communications from Shorter College in Rome, Georgia, and an M.Ed. in Art Education from Georgia Southern University. After retiring from 26 years in Georgia public schools—twenty of them as an art teacher—she now pursues painting full time in her Central Texas studio, inspired by the surroundings of her home on 29 acres near Mart, Texas. She works primarily in oil.
Melanie and her husband, Steve, relocated to the Waco area in 2018 to be near family and grandchildren. Juried memberships in the Outdoor Painters Society and Professional Artists of Central Texas (PACT) have expanded her exhibition opportunities and connected her with a community of fellow artists. In recent years, the scale and shifting atmosphere of the Texas sky has become a recurring presence in her work.
Her paintings are held in private collections in Texas and across the Southeastern United States, and she has exhibited in galleries in both Georgia and Texas through solo and group shows. While her subjects vary—landscapes, florals, still life, animals, people, and architecture—her guiding focus is the composition of light across form.
“The bull on the other side of the fence strutted by one day to capture the attention of the females grazing nearby.”
In His Majesty, Stokes stages a small ceremony of presence: a bull steps forward with the composure of a monarch, framed by a cool, airy field and punctuated by bluebonnets in bloom. The horn line reads like a crown—bold, declarative—while the softened edges and luminous ground keep the scene gentle rather than grandiose. It’s a portrait of swagger, yes, but also of belonging in a landscape that feels distinctly Texas.
“Moments I notice outdoors—through quick studies, sketches, and photographs—often become the paintings I return to in the studio.”
“With a nod to Rembrandt’s use of chiaroscuro in portraits, the sunlight captured on this cow gives powerful pause to her aloof attitude toward the photographer.”
With COWroscuro, Stokes tips her hat to the portrait tradition—specifically the dramatic light-and-dark of chiaroscuro—while keeping the subject unmistakably ranch-country real. A band of warm sunlight cuts across the cow’s face like a spotlight, turning a casual encounter into a moment of consequence. The composition feels close and immediate, yet the expression stays reserved—an aloof calm that reads as both humor and dignity.
This is where the exhibition’s wit meets its gravitas: a barnyard subject treated with the composure of a master portrait. The cow doesn’t “perform” for the viewer—she simply is, and the light does the rest.
Melanie balances confident brushwork with softened transitions, building images that feel grounded and approachable while still carrying a sense of quiet reverence and craft. Whether the tone is playful or poignant, she paints with tenderness and clarity, aiming for work that leaves the viewer with a felt emotion rather than a literal explanation.
In Separation Day, Stokes widens the lens from portraiture to lived ranch experience. The scene is ordinary—gate, dust, distance—yet the atmosphere is charged with aftermath. A cow in the foreground holds the frame with a heavy, quiet presence while the herd clusters near the fence line, their attention pulled toward what has just left the picture. The paint stays loose and swift, like memory under stress, and the story lands in the postures: witness, worry, and a grief that doesn’t need explanation.
Melanie recounts the experience, “The sadness in the herd’s eyes was compounded when the stock trailer drove away with the young cows inside. The wail of the mamas calling their babies lasted into the night.”
This piece acts as the exhibition’s emotional center of gravity—proof that “Some Cows I Have Known” isn’t only charm and character, but relationship and consequence. The restraint in the brushwork makes the feeling hit harder
Painting is not only something she enjoys—it’s something Melanie feels compelled to do. For her, it is a language of color and tone that brings richness to her soul. Marveling at the beauty of Creation, painting becomes a spiritual act of worship and an expression of what she chooses to see and process in the world.
In The Next Morning, the artist paints motherhood as instinct made visible. A black cow bends in a protective arc toward her calf, the gesture both tender and practical—checking, nudging, assuring. The pasture dissolves into soft greens and atmospheric light, letting the bond become the true subject. Nothing here is staged; it’s the quiet competence of life continuing. After the night’s work, there is no fanfare—only care, presence, and the steady strength of an animal doing exactly what it was made to do.
“This was a surprise found in the pasture one morning. The mama cow had delivered this baby, cleaned up, and was feeding and caring for it—without the help of anyone else. The strength of maternal instinct is amazing in both animals and humans.”
The elegance is in the posture: one sweeping line of body and neck that reads like shelter. The softness of the background keeps the moment intimate, as if you’ve come upon it without being noticed.
These additional works are presented as quick vignettes—small, telling moments from the pasture that deepen the world of Some Cows I Have Known.
Here, the focus shifts between social comedy, maternal devotion, and the unmistakable individuality of each animal: a shared glance, a protective shadow, a nuzzle, a look that holds its ground.
“The way light touches objects or lights up the sky gets my attention and compels me to paint it. God is light. He touches this earth with beauty and allows me to paint it.”
Melanie Stokes Art
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