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, I’ve grown to love the quiet, slow pace of life—surrounded by tall pines, soft stillness, and the ever-present hum of cicadas. I live with my wonderfully musical librarian husband, our beautiful son and daughter, and five rescue cats who keep things quite lively.

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.

My illustrations have been featured in Lürzer’s Archive and included in The Familiar: Hades by Mark Z. Danielewski. A series of my posters is part of the Poster House Museum collection in New York. I’ve also self-published two books—ABC’s of Creepy, and a typographic, illustrated edition of Don Quixote.

Drawing and Painting:
My work is rooted in the dreamy and the eerie—heavily influenced by Japanese woodblock prints, Studio Ghibli, all things beautiful (and a little spooky). I first encountered Ukiyo-E in college, and it opened a door. Since then, I’ve been exploring figures, emotions, and the thin veil between the spiritual and the everyday. Whether the world I draw is magical or a little unsettling… I’ll let you decide.

Through my art, I hope to bring fresh contemporary work to Mississippi and beyond—to offer moments of beauty, quiet curiosity, and a glimpse into what might be hiding just out of sight.