A Michigan native, Melissa grew up enjoying art and the outdoors. She first experimented with monochromatic watercolor portraiture several years ago while taking a summer painting class at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She began by painting pictures she took of her nieces and friend's children, and then later of her own two children. Her love of soft pastel grew out of figure drawing classes she took at The Contemporary Museum - Laguna Gloria in Austin, TX. There she explored the use of abstract colors in her pastel drawings. She now uses pastels to draw things she sees while walking and hiking through nature.

Melissa is a 1998 Graduate of Point Loma Nazarene University in Southern California. As a public school educator for 16 years, she has shared her love of art across all grades. She has taught Art in Tyler, Texas; Austin, Texas; Greenville, South Carolina; and most recently Pickens, South Carolina.  She now paints in her home studio located in the beautiful Upstate, South Carolina. 

Her most recent show was a solo exhibit titled, "A Sentimental Journey" at the Pickens County Museum of Art & History in Pickens, South Carolina, in June, 2023. She is a member of the Pastel Society of America and is now selling her artwork and art prints in local shops and venues.