We’ve come a long way, huh. I’ve been a stranger TikTok (because I’m thirty one and this app confuses the hell out of me) but I feel like now that I’m on here more, it’s time for a more formal introduction! My name is Mel, and I started making art as a way to express my gratefulness to New Orleans.. because that place saved my life. I went for the first time at the lowest point in my life.. and she sent me home straightened out I’ll tell you that. And since then, I’ve been constantly in search of ways to show how much all of that has meant to me. The best way I’ve found? Art. And so this art journey started.. a love of travel hidden deep within a girl who was petrified to leave the house. I hated the person I became and forced myself to change. I feel so lucky that all these years later, making art has been this full circle thing.. that I can visit a place and fall in love, come home and make some art, and then use that art to go away again. Visiting Italy last year was the first like, moment I realized that I manifested this dream. And so when I think about that scared girl at 23, feeling like she hated feeling stuck in her head, stuck in her fears.. oh I just wish I could tell her all that was coming. If you’d like to read more about the anxiety side of this travel experience, I’ll post it down below! I love being open & transparent about anxiety and mental health, so if you need a buddy who gets it, trust me I am here! And if you’d like to join my Postcard Club and have these adventures and stories sent to your door every month, I’ll post that below too ♥️ #travellovers #wanderlusttravel #handmadeart #travelart #travelinspired #travelartist #neworleans #alwaysneworleans #nola