For Melissa Oprendek, finding her way into the art world was an interesting and disjointed journey. In her early 40’s, during her Associate Degree in Liberal Arts at the University of Maine in Augusta, Melissa experimented with classes in Photography, Photoshop/Illustrator, Creative Writing, and Architecture Design. She enjoyed the contrast between the humanity and the science based courses. Many of the students in those classes would carry in work from their art classes which would cause awe and envy in Melissa. So in 2009, after a four year hiatus, she decided to go back to UMA to study art.
Melissa enjoyed all of her art classes but her favorite ones included 2D, 3D, Photoshop, Creative Bookmaking, Intaglio Printmaking, Metal Sculpture, and Painting. In addition to these courses, outside the bounds of UMA she has taken multiple glass courses, watercolor instruction, pulp paper making, Ukrainian egg decorating, jewelry making, paper mache, and encaustic painting classes.
A wonderful result of her education is that she is now finding her voice in art and fulfilling her need to express herself creatively with many more tools available to her. She also finds great joy in volunteering at the local youth center fostering the arts in children.
