Melissa always knew that she wanted to be an artist. Growing up in the
woods in Iowa led her to a lifelong love affair observing the cycles of nature.
After graduating from Wittenberg University with a BFA and working as a
graphic designer, she returned to her fine art roots in 1996. When she and
her husband wanted to start a family, she helped found and run a
freestanding birth and taught meditation techniques for pregnant moms to
use in labor. During this time, she became very interested in meditation,
what unlocks female power and creativity, and how women can harness that
power for themselves. She still uses these focusing tools her day-to-day
creative process.
After the violence of 9/11, she needed the grounding of clay to find her
creative mojo again and added ceramics back into her mix of media.
Melissa sees her process as a series of widening arcs and circles. As she
learns new techniques and has new life experiences, she internalizes them
and at some time in the future they come out in different combinations as art. Her fine artwork is in the Kamm Teapot Foundation and private collections in
Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New York
and Australia. She has participated in Marin Open Studios for eighteen years; and belongs to two critique groups (one large and one small); ACCI Gallery in Berkeley, CA; the Association of Clay and Glass Artists (ACGA), Terra Linda Ceramic Artists and the National League of American Pen Women.