A Renaissance woman best known for her fiber art, Melani is equally at home creating art books and jewelry. A native of Ohio, she now makes her home in Florida where she has been a studio artist for the past twenty-three years. Melani majored in art at Shaker Heights High School in Ohio. Although she knew she wanted to teach school from the age of five, she thought it would be art not biology that she would be teaching. She began her career as a high school biology teacher in 1970 which continued for eighteen years.
Later combining her art and biology backgrounds she began to create art work from fabric. Her series Earth~Air~Water depicts wildlife in their natural habitats. Melani is particularly interested in endangered species, Florida water birds and insects. Each creature is interpreted realistically and much of her art is three- dimensional. Many of her pieces are about endangered species. As a biologist she knows their preservation is critical. The loss of one species can have profound consequences on the survival of another.
Melani creates her art to preserve as many species as possible in fiber so future generations can appreciate their beauty and the significance of their loss.
As a teacher she believes it paramount to educate everyone about the importance of working together to preserve endangered species, to protect existing wildlife and their habitats for generations to come. The list is long and time is short. Man has the gift of reason and along with it a responsibility. We must become the stewards of the earth.
It is her hope that through her art work she can inspire viewers to see the beauty in nature and imagine what they can do to help preserve it.
Butterfly Orchid
Nickerbeans Blue Butterflies
Spinning in the Moonlight
