Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Mimms.
Hi Melissa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My creative background began in photography, starting as a photojournalist then moving into fashion photography and working for clients such as Nordstrom and Brooks Brothers as well as ad agencies. I did this for many years and my clients always reflected to me what a natural storyteller I am, my photos always have a narrative. Often subtle but there is more than a pretty picture always behind the work. When the world went digital something got lost for me in the digital – it felt too “perfect – I began to seek out any alternative photo process I could learn about and with those processes, I wanted to make them my own. So, I started to combine digital captures, film captures, watercolors, alternative surfaces, lots of experimenting. At the same time my spiritual practices were deepening. My work started to reflect all the things I was growing creatively and spiritually and expressing it all in my work.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s never a completely smooth road. The backstory is long for all of us I believe. I have always been a mistake maker. Aren’t we all? What I’ve learned though is mistakes can be the very thing to push you forward.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
These days I specialize in meditative art that’s a reflection of my spiritual practices involving body and mind. It’s been described by others as ethereal, feminine and deeply powerful. I’ve completed a series on Mudras which are hand gestures that are commonly known in yoga but have deep roots and practices. These are printed on washi paper and laid over gold leaf with a varnish that gives them a painterly feel even though they are photographs.I made a series of candles embeded with Bhagavad Gita teachings and milagros along with flowers from my garden using beeswax first to encase the flowers and other ephemera. Another series I’m working on is a deck of Oracle cards that are a poetic combination of watercolors and thoughtforms for self inquiry before or after body movement practice. I really am creating what I’m practicing and embodying in my own life in the moment. What interests me and what I’m experiencing is what I want to express through my art. I’ve got about 30 years of yoga and meditation experience at this point so I can attest to what years and years of practice have done in my life and feel inspired to express it and share it.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I think the right people will show up in your life if you pay attention. The right teachers at the right time always showed up in my life. I feel like that is a very intuitive knowing – this person has things to teach me and I want to be available. I always knew intitively who could teach me and who I wanted to be aligned with and also who I didn’t want to be aligned with even though I might learn some processes. At the end of the day, let your guidance come from your own heart.
Pricing:
- Princing is on individual basis
Contact Info:
- Website: https://melissamimms.com
- Instagram: @mimmsey
Image Credits
All by Melissa Mimms
