Mel completed a Visual Arts degree, majoring in Painting at Ballarat University and is also a qualified Secondary Teacher. After many years of travelling and teaching (which she still does part-time), Mel has immersed herself wholeheartedly into painting (almost) full-time.

Mel lives in country Victoria near Natimuk and Mt. Arapiles; a world-famous mecca for rock climbing, with her daughter and husband. Fortunate to be surrounded by space and the beautiful big vast skies of the Wimmera - Mel can be found in her studio, paint brush in hand from the early hours of the morning when its still and quiet.