hOWDY, Here’s A
bit more about me.
I compassionately support
the human creative struggle
free from harmful tech tools.
I show people how to work in alignment with their hands, bodies, and the beauty around them to open up and embrace their inner artist.
I go by Mel (they/she) and I’m a midwestern artist who now lives and works as an adventure artist, writer, retreat guide, and craft tutor in Northern California.
2023, I quit my job working as an art teacher at Apple to be an artist and guide that helps people heal their relationships to their art and their technology. I lead creative retreats and craft classes online with the goal of helping people persistently bloom.
My role as an educator involves supporting folks with their craft in tutoring sessions, and teaching art in an accessible way because I truly believe that creativity is a human right.
Creativity gives our life meaning, richness, and allows us to savor more than scroll. And if we learn to savor in the right places, we can live more full and creative lives deeply connected to the world around us.
I’m a city kid who turned feral
& found their true center in the forest.
Hiking brought me back to my creativity while also gently helping me support my neurodivergence, Long COVID, and chronic pain. Slowly walking in nature was medicine and inspiration, revealing the artistic voice I lost after art school.
In 2025, I built a pod-class to help you do the same, using time in nature as your guide back home to yourself.
I run all aspects business through my core values of well-being, service, intuition, non-hierarchy, joy, boldness, and community. If this sounds in alignment with you, consider reading and subscribing to my newsletter where I write essays and share how things are being shaped as I continue on the path to live these values. I also run free Creativity Clubs and have an active community over on Discord. There is no cost or paywall, just come spend time on the internet and make.
From 2009-2021 I lived in Kansas City, MO and worked in the art scene there as an art writer, curator, community organizer and Fine Artist™.
Right out of college I founded and ran Informality Blog, an online platform for documenting the conversation about Kansas City contemporary art and culture through writing and photojournalism. I also ran Subterranean Gallery out of my apartment for several years and then became a Co-Director/Curator at a PLUG Projects. Artist-run spaces were where my community stewardship took root. I was also a five year resident at The Drugstore, an artist-run studio collective in midtown KC. You can see the full loooong list of my art world adventures on my CV, here.
One last thing to know about me is that I am nonbinary and queer! What does that mean for you? Well, here’s two things:
Much of what I do is going to come through the perspective of a queer person who grew up in the midwest. Meaning, I had to hide myself for a large portion of my life, and didnt “come out” until i was 26.
I prefer if you use they/them when describing me, but I also speak Spanish (un poco!) which means she/her is fine too. When I have discussed this shift in language with my queer elders, terms like Butch or Tomboy from the past have evolved for my generation. I want to be compassionate as folks adapt to changes in our society but love it when people see me and try. Language is evolving and with that, so are the ways that we talk about ourselves.
