I’m Cassandra Melody, a multidisciplinary artist drawn to energy, emotion, and visual tension.

Each of my works carries weight , sometimes through a subtle buildup, other times through contrast and movement.

I’m drawn to creating pieces that feel alive, where texture, color, and tension work together to hold a moment in time.

While I often create large scale works, I’m just as interested in smaller pieces that pull the viewer in and leave something behind.

My Tiny Gallery exhibit is from a project I participated in;

I created my mask as part of a larger project “Bridge” by Katie Green in 2018. Learn more abot this project here:

https://vimeo.com/464076462/6d1e924a1d

The whole video explains how the art was made and the participants experience doing the project. 

You can see me 3 minutes into the video.

Tazim Esmail holds a B.A. in Women’s Studies and English from the University of Calgary. She has studied 6 years of Creative writing with prestigious authors like Suzette Mayr, Aritha Van Herk, Christian Bok, Robert Majzels and Clem Martini. A book written by her has been sent to the publishers. Her work has been published in a number of print and online publications, and chapbook anthologies. She has recited poetry at numerous events, including the Calgary Multicultural Centre’s Silk Road Festivals held at the Arts Commons Centre, where one of her poems was featured on the invitation card. Tazim is also a Visual Artist, whose art and poetry have appeared in the NoD Magazine and at public exhibitions. Her art was recently accepted for Humainlogue Magazine and is currently displayed in public spaces throughout Southern Alberta.

Bringing the magical, natural world inside our homes and onto our bodies. I strive to create pieces that encompass the colours and textures of our natural world. In a time when we are surrounded by concrete, I strive to reach through the cracks to bring nature back.

Growing flowers, foraging for colour and sourcing local wool grounds me and connects me to a greater force and inspires me to create pieces to share that bit of magic with others. 

I create my art through techniques such as needle felting, knitting, stitching and natural dying. My intentions are to create pieces that will bring joy and then return to the earth at the end of its journey.

 

I’ve been creatively aligned my entire life. From a very early age, I knew that the literary arts were where I wanted to exist and so.. at the tender age of 22, I dropped out and went meandering around N. America in order to.. EXPERIENCE life and generate stories (and… OH how many wonderful stories I have from that.. nearly 10 years of wanderlust and meanderment).

I have self- published the graphically enhanced literary novel “The Death of Love” which is available through my website. For clarity: it is not “print on demand” .. I actually paid an overseas printer a prince’s ransom to mass produce my novel.

I am, also, known sporadically as The Ocean Cyclist as I am building (right here in Bowness) a Pedal Powered Boat that I will be living in for two years as I pilot it entirely around the planet.. I’m doing this to promote sustainability, clean oceans, and adoption of cycling as a primary method of day to day and lifelong mobility (it’s always worked for me.. and it figures prominently as a key factor in shifting urban areas from wholly unsustainable zones of waste and smog to.. cohabitable and functional spaces). Anyhow.. it’s a long live project that I first envisioned in 1992 when I was cycling from Northern Alberta with hopes of reaching Rio for the Earth Summit.. and I do see a light at the end of the tunnel so.. here’s to adventure on the horizon!

I am also a musician going by the name of The6EXX.. preview, purchase.. all music sales will be used for Ocean Cyclist.. but I do have a cool Video EP that I’m working on.. kind of “industrial folk” (a style that doesn’t exist yet… ) titled “Bitter Springs.”