Melissa Manley

Melissa Manley lives and works in southeastern North Carolina. She holds a BA in Studio Arts from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. In 2006 she completed her Masters of Fine Arts in Metal Design at East Carolina University, studying under nationally recognized enamelist Linda Darty as well as Robert Ebendorf, one of the godfathers of found object jewelry, and the studio jewelry movement in the United States. Melissa specializes in jewelry and small vessels in silver, copper and enamel, sometimes incorporating natural objects gleaned from her kayak adventures in the waters around her coastal home. Melissa has taught workshops around the country at retreats such at “Artfest” in Port Townsend WA, “Adorn Me” in Houston TX, “Art & Soul” in Portland, OR and Virginia, “Art Unraveled” In Phoenix, AZ and the Bead&Button Show in Miwaukee, WI. She has taught collage, watercolor, book altering and jewelry classes at art retreats for the past nine years. She currently runs the metals lab and teaches metalsmithing and jewelry at Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, NC. When not showing folks how to make things, she spends time with her 17 yr old daughter around, or kayaks with her kayak guru boyfriend Robert Smith owner of Watersmyth Kayaking in Wilmington. Melissa’s work has appeared in Somerset Studio magazine, Crafting Personal Shrines by Carol Owen, The Fine Art of Enameling by Linda Darty, Making Connections by Susan Lenart Kazmer, Collage Lab: Experiments, Investigations and Exploratory Projects by Bee Shay and 500 Enameled Objects by Lark Books, Destination Creativity by Rice Freeman-Zachary. Melissa was the featured artist for the Winter 2011 issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry.