Melissa’s mother likes to say that her family has paint running through their veins, not blood.In Melissa’s case, the paint runs thick!Her mother is a published muralist in Memphis, her father and brother fabricate metal in vintage Harley Davidson motorcycles, her grandfather was a wonderful painter, and her grandmother was a garden enthusiast who had a talent for growing and artfully preparing her award winning flower arrangements.Melissa talks about attending art classes with her grandfather at the University of Memphis, but said she learned the most by just peeping over his shoulder.Of her family, she says, “They are the most amazing to me. They do such wonderful things, so differently from each other. I am so blessed to have so many different close influences.”
Melissa graduated from the University of Mississippi with a degree Marketing but always had a passion for interior design, painting and making things. Working in Interior Design for the past ten years, she came to appreciate her passion even more.About her paintings, Melissa says, “I express my feelings and emotions; I don't go by any taught guide line. I love texture. I can paint a smooth painting but it just doesn't feel right. I have to have the layers and layers of color and texture. When I walk in my studio it is unpredictable! Even my mediums, acrylic mostly but I like to mix oil, plaster and finishes. My inspiration comes from my current environment, how I feel, what I have seen and just how the paint layers on, simple as that. I go with my heart.”
Melissa has always painted but was never serious about selling until her best friend passed away. “She always wanted me to do something with my talent, something bigger … and never felt that I had the opportunity.” An opportunity to donate a painting to a charity event came up a year after her friend passed, and it ended up being the beginning of a wonderful following. Later, she sold 19 paintings at the Trinity School Spotlight on the Art market.And this year, one of her paintings was selected for the Atlanta Symphony Show House.She says, “I love painting and I hope that is what people see when they view my art.”
