Lush green and blue landscapes of Midwestern summers are the heart of what inspires Melissa. Her work explores open fields and deep forests, finding small moments of magic and mystery hidden in the gardens and mossy environments. Her storytelling project, The Woolbeasts, discovers the denizens of these worlds. The Woolbeasts are all hand-crafted in her “Treehouse Studio” in Chicago, Illinois. Melissa has been sewing, sculpting, and illustrating these creatures for fifteen years. They’ve been collected over the world and have been shown in galleries across the United States.