Mel B / Jackson, Mississippi
Artist / @melburnsart on Instagram

Multimedia Designer in Architecture
Published Illustrator & Designer
Fine Artist

Designer by day, artist by night.

I'm Melissa. Raised in Mississippi, this place has shaped me into living and loving a slow-paced and quiet life with beautiful spacious surroundings and plenty of cicadas for a bit of background noise. I'm happily married to a very musical librarian, and together we have a son and five rescue cats.

Design and Illustration:
I actually started my college career as a Criminal Justice major. This evolved into Library Science and then, finally, Graphic Design. Mostly because I love books. That was all I needed to set my sights on USM’s art department. From there, I have worked at a print shop, a non-profit, and an advertising agency, and now I’m a Multimedia Designer at an architecture firm. From branding to video editing and animation, layout design to presentations, and handbound books, I design and maintain it all. All of this has gotten me published and in a museum. Neat!

Drawing and Painting:
Influenced by Ukiyo-E, Studio Ghibli, fantasy, and everything spooky, I like to create drawings inspired by Japanese woodblock prints with a contemporary, deeper flavor. I studied Ukiyo-E for a semester in college, and it all started there. I experimented with figures and created this world where the spiritual realm intertwines with reality. Whether that's more magical or creepy is up to you.

I have been published in Lürzer's Archive and have two illustrations in Mark Z. Danielewski's The Familiar: Hades. I have a set of posters in the Poster House Museum in New York. And as of 2021, I aim to join more art markets and shows to get my work out there.

Overall, my goal is to bring new contemporary work to our state and share it with anyone who might enjoy it. Through my art, I'd like to convey a sense of beauty and curiosity about the things you may not see. Either because you can't see them or simply because you aren't looking.