bio
MELISSA'S INTEREST IN TAXIDERMY began as a child who delighted in seeing the dioramas in the Museum of Natural History. Upon receiving the gift of a mounted chicken as an adult, an obsession was born— she became determined to learn how this gorgeous object was made. A devoted urbanite, the odds were against her, but she jumped in headfirst and hasn’t looked back.
Melissa attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, where she earned a Bachelors of Fine Art degree in painting in 2001. She later attended the Second Nature School of Taxidermy in Bonner, Montana. She is a member of the National Taxidermy Association and the United Taxidermists of New York. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn with her wonderful husband, also an artist, and their beloved grey tabby, Stella.