EDUCATION
Kent State University, Dept. of Art, B.F.A. in Ceramics 1995. “Cum Laude”
Pasadena City College, 2001
San Fernando City College, 2002

EXHIBITIONS
2010 Solo Show, Intech Corporation, Palm Beach, FL.
2009 Two Person Show with Mark Yale Harris, Amuse Gallery, Columbus, OH.
2009 Women II Women, Lakeland Community College, Kirtland, OH.
2009 Palm Beach 3, West Palm Beach, FL.
2008- “Best Of The Best”, A Muse Gallery, Columbus, OH.
2007- “3 in 3-D”, Perfect Pear Gallery, Chicago, Ill.
2006- “New Blood”, Finer Things Gallery, Nashville, TN.
2006- “International Clay”, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, TX.
2005- Group Show, Wiessman Gallery, Chicago, Ill.
2005- Art Form Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, FL.
2004- S.O.F.A., Chicago, Ill.
2004- Contemporary Art Form, West Palm Beach, FL.
2004- Sculptural Objects Functional Art, New York, NY,
2003- S.O.F.A., Chicago, Ill.
2003- Solo Show, The Thomas R .Riley Gallery, Cleveland, OH.
2003- Sculptural Objects Functional Art, New York, NY.
2003- Art Form International, West Palm Beach, FL.
2002- S.O.F.A., Chicago, Ill.
2001- Bellevue Art Museum Festival of the Arts, Bellevue, WA.
1999-02- Beverly Hills Affaire in the Gardens, Beverly Hills, CA.
2001-02- Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito, CA.
1999- Mad River Fall Collection, Santa Monica, CA.

ARTICLES / PUBLISHING
“Ceramics Today”, Schiffer Publishing, 2009
“Alive with Color”, Los Angeles Daily News, June 14, 2000
“Sculpting A Career”, Los Angeles Times, August 31, 2000
“Cleveland Sculptor”, Chagrin Valley Times, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, June 31, 2002
“Snap Shot”, West Geauga Sun, West Geauga, Ohio, March 29, 2007

COMPETITION / AWARDS
2003 OOOandeye Art Reach International Competition, Sculpture Award

GRANTS
2004 Puffin Award Foundation, New Jersey

COLLECTIONS
Federal Home Loan and Savings Bank, Atlanta, GA
Intech/Janice Corporation, Palm Beach, FL
Barbara Lazaus, Los Angeles, CA
Donna and Jim Foster, Columbus, OH
Barb and Dave Spilter, Columbus, OH.
Wilma Smith, Cleveland, OH.
Lester A. Lefton, Kent State University, Kent, OH.

The Following are interview questions posed from my gallery in Atlanta, Pryor Fine Art Gallery

1. Tell us about your background. Where did you grow-up? Your family?
I grew up in a conservative mid-western family, the second of five girls (no boys)…need I say more. I will mention that my father grew up the second son of six boys (no girls)…poor guy.

2. How did your background influence your career?
I don’t know how my background influenced my career as an artist. Art was not a priority. Not an anything. I often times think I am an artist despite my background as opposed to because of my background.
However, I was influenced to change artistic direction because of my grandfather. I started my career as a clay sculptor and remained focused on this for seventeen years. I found a lot of success as a clay artist but grew tired and anxious for a change. I’d never felt artistically strong as a 2-dimensional artist, but longed to paint. After exhausting more mediums than I can recall, I gravitated towards encaustics (painting with hot beeswax). I’d heard many artists raving about the effects of this strange medium, but I’d avoided it as it seemed too complicated and unfamiliar.
Getting back to my grandfather…He grew up in a small poor village in Russia. A lightening storm created a fire so bad that it destroyed the village. It was shortly after this that his family migrated to the States. He told me that he had few fond memories of Russia with the exception of his childhood neighbor. His neighbors had managed a small bee farm. My grandfather found peace walking amongst the hives and loved the process of harvesting the honey. As an adult back in the States he managed his own small bee farm. I also found the same sense of peace amongst my grandfathers’ hives, and loved to harvest the honey as a young girl.
As I was transitioning out of clay, I came across the beeswax from my grandfathers’ last hives. I figured this was a sign to give encaustics a try. All of my first paintings in encaustics were from this batch of beeswax.
Artistically the transition from 3-dimensional clay to 2-dimensional wax felt quite natural. The wax has such depth. It gave me the option to dig, scratch, and sculpt the surface as I had always done to my clay. The sheerness of each layer of wax gave the surface a similar illumination to clay glazes. It was so strangely familiar, it stills gives me pause to wonder.
My full name is Melissa…the Greek word for “honeybee”.

3. At what age did you become curious about art?
Always.

4. What inspires you? How do you stay inspired?
Everything inspires me. Staying inspired is work. I have to remember to keep my eyes open…to keep my heart open.

5. What is your artistic philosophy?
I’m not sure I have one.

6. What do you need around you while you are working in the studio?
I need my studio to be completely organized. I struggle with being very obsessive compulsive. If things are out of order, I am out of order.
I defiantly need to be alone. Work time is work time. I don’t like to be interrupted.

7. What artist(s) has (have) had the biggest influence on your work?
As a clay artist I found inspiration from contemporary figurative clay artists such as, Camille Vandenburg, Viola Frey, Akio Takamori, and Goro Suzuki. It was the Asian influence that then transitioned into my paintings. I love to reference traditional Japanese silk paintings and watercolors. My colors draw much of their softness with splashes of bold color from this influence.
Recently, I feel like everybody is screaming for color. It has made me look back to the Expressionists that I loved in school. Some of my favorite Expressionists are Oscar Kokoschka, Edvard Munch, Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degas, and Edourd Manet.

8. What do you most enjoy doing while you are not working?
I love to cook. I don’t eat meat, but am always trying to feel like I do. I love Japanese, Thai, and Mediterranean food. I can make sushi with my hands tied. I love it!
I love to escape in a good movie…though feel like I rarely see one anymore.
My dog is so cute. I could hug her all day.
People watching …always fascinates me.
Time with my family.

9. What is your favorite traveling experience?
I love N.Y.C.…definately the capital of great people watching.

10. If you weren’t an artist – what would you be?
I would love to study animal behavior, a Jane Goodall sort of life…quiet, solitary, learning to speak a completely different language. Not so dissimilar from people watching.