McMinn, Melissa

I am a full time artist specializing in traditional hand engraving, precious metal inlays, and limited edition, hand engraved intaglio prints. Born and raised in Kansas, I graduated college, then headed westward, landing in Southern California and spending over a decade in the Los Angeles area. The art of pinstriping had drawn me to sunny Southern California, where I practiced that craft as a hobby and side business, while making a career in consultative sales roles within the Biotech field, utilizing my education in the sciences.

My interest in art as a hobby and passion outside my day to day work in the corporate world, led me into painting, both fine art and automotive style painting, leather working, and eventually engraving. When I found the medium of engraving, or it found me, and particularly engraving steel, it clicked with me like no other art form had, and I went full bore, knowing eventually it would become my profession. Reading books, self teaching, drawing for hundreds of hours, and eventually studying, in person, with several different Master Engravers, including my primary mentor, John Barraclough, I honed in on my craft. The transition to full time artist happened in 2016, leaving my corporate career to make the leap into being a full time artist, both designing artwork for clients and also engraving articles with my artwork.