Meet Melinda
“Are you moving your furniture around again?!” my mother regularly hollered up the stairs at me, her 8-year-old daughter and budding designer / decorator.
I needed my bedroom to be fresh and beautiful with flow and balance. It was no surprise to anyone that I developed a passion early on for all things related to art and design. Luckily, my talent was confirmed by a cherished art teacher who encouraged me into ‘Art for the Gifted’. I flourished and wound up at the top of my secondary school’s “Interior Decorating and Design” program, which also justified the ongoing ‘renovations’ that I inflicted upon my family.
After a university degree in sociology and a college diploma in television production, both of which gave me valuable insights into the psychology and diversity of design, I utilized my talent for interior decoration as the colour consultant for a busy paint and wallpaper store.
I loved my job but the birth of my daughter was the creative motivation I needed to pursue a life as an artist.
I was commissioned to design and paint a wall mural and I began a series of painted canvases. I started exhibiting and selling my work in Hamilton in the early 2000’s. As my children progressed through elementary school, I became increasingly disheartened by the lack of funding allotted to visual arts programming. Through the Art Gallery of Hamilton, I quickly learned some teaching fundamentals and embarked on a whole new (interim) career: volunteer art teacher!
However, I knew that my talent and passion had to have greater outreach. So I started bringing people’s dreams to reality through custom interior designs. That was over ten years ago and I’ve been doing it, and loving it, ever since.
In snippets of spare time, I continue with my visual art. It revitalizes and inspires me. I also refinish and repurpose second hand furniture into distinctive, functional pieces of art. So, basically, I’m still moving my furniture around!
Thanks again soo much for everything. You have been fantastic. Design is awesome!
– D. Wright
