Melanie Legge is a ceramicist and sculptor based in Hampshire. Her work is often inspired by the sea, waves and aquatic plant life from a deep love of Cornwall, first established as a child when Melanie spent each summer with her Grandparents on the Roseland Peninsula and attended The Chelsea Pottery studio at the age of 11. This early start instilled in her an instinctive familiarity with the material.
She has shared her enthusiasm for clay work with children and adults alike, teaching at both the Vienna International School in the 1990s and more recently at the Copenhagen International School. It was in the creative environment of Denmark that Melanie found herself pushing the boundaries and experimenting with combinations of materials to extraordinary effect. “Between my fingers the clay comes alive. It dictates to me; I can suggest what I am aiming at, but ultimately the piece emerges as it wishes, my fingers merely servants of the element”.
Under the guidance of Danish Sculptor Jeanette Brønsted, Melanie furthered her passion for portraiture and figurative sculpture. Both her portraits and porcelain works can be found in private collections in Denmark, France, Switzerland and the UK. Melanie's portraits have been selected on numerous occasions for the Society of Portrait Sculptors' FACE exhibitions (2016 and 2019), as well as the Royal Geographical Society (Sir Ranulph Fiennes), and Messrs C Hoare & Co (Henry Hoare, former Chairman of the bank).