Famed wildlife artist enjoyed life in Ripley County

DONIPHAN — Ripley County was her adopted home but during her many travels as an award-winning wildlife artist Eileen Melton was among our proudest ambassadors.

Mrs. Melton passed away Dec. 28 in Doniphan at the age of 84.

A self-taught artist, Eileen often said she inherited her God-given talent.

“I know where my talent comes from and I am aware God gave it to me. I still have to call on Him,” she once said during a newspaper interview.

Her works in acrylic, oils and colored pencils can be found throughout the world and in many Ripley County businesses and homes as well. She painted on canvas, watercolor paper or mat board in order to portray her subjects in their natural settings.

Eileen spent 20 years working as a commercial artist, but “I always kept my hand in fine art, when I turned professional I knew I wanted to be a wildlife artist,” she once recalled.

Raised in Indiana, she credited her love of animals and the outdoors to her grandfather. A love for flowers, she said, was owed to her grandmother.

Blind in her left eye and required to wear glasses, she was told by schoolmates she would never ‘see things as they really are.’

“When I showed my drawings to the other children they would tell me that this was the way they looked at them, also,” she later said. “I decided that they had a problem - not me. I feel that this is where I developed my tight, detailed way of painting.”

She sold her first painting when she was 15 years old.

After marrying Tom Melton, a career military man, the couple and their three daughters lived around the world.

While living in Japan, Eileen was invited to join the Tokyo Art Society - the oldest art society in Japan. Viewing her work, the society was certain the art was done by a man and issued an invitation. After learning the artist was a woman, the society realized it would be dishonorable to take it back and accepted her as a member. When the couple left Japan, some of her paintings remained at the Tokyo Art Museum.

She also exhibited in the prestigious International Kerner Gallerie in Frankfurt, Germany. Her works were widely accepted in England, Germany and Japan.

In the United States, she displayed work in 29 states from Florida to Minnesota, Colorado to Maryland, Louisiana to Michigan, and Texas to the Carolinas.

After moving to Missouri, Eileen won competitions for the 1989 and 1992 state trout stamps and in 1990 received the Governor’s First of State Waterfowl Stamp. She was the first woman to have her work selected for use on a Missouri Trout Stamp.

She also advanced to the final round in the federal duck stamp competition and was a runner-up or finalist in several other state duck and trout stamp competitions.

Tom stayed busy as well doing all the matting and framing of her work while also serving as her representative and manager at many of the shows.

Her work appeared on the cover of the Missouri Department of Conservation magazine. She also was recognized by several other organizations including Ducks Unlimited, the Franklin Mint and Leaning Tree.

Other awards included being named artist of the year at the Southern Wildlife Festival in Alabama, Best of Show at Arkansas State University and Artist Of The Year at wildlife festivals throughout the South.

She also taught college art classes at Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff and was an avid fan of the Raiders basketball program coached by the legendary Gene Bess.

Players and coaches through the years often were rewarded with Eileen’s artwork recognizing their achievements.

Her interest in wildlife didn’t stop at her easel. For many years, she helped count eagles and checked their migration habits.

While not opposed to hunting, the Meltons were staunch in their opposition to poachers.

It was by chance the couple found Ripley County as their home in retirement. The Meltons were looking for property with woods at the edge of the Ozarks when ‘by luck we happened to come upon this farm and we liked it. We liked the area,” she once recalled.

In later life, the Meltons donated many of Eileen’s works to benefit local charities, law enforcement and fundraisers for those in need.

One of their favorite causes was the Highway K Volunteer Fire Department which Tom has served as a fireman.

In September 2015, the Meltons donated nearly 100 original paintings and limited edition prints for a fire department benefit at the Doniphan Community Center. While they had helped in similar ways many times previously, it was the largest show ever done for the fire department.

Through the years, more than 150 of her works were put into limited edition prints with more than two-thirds selling out.