Melissa Herriott is a self-taught artist from Western New York. Melissa put her paintbrushes down for 20 years, only to pick them back up five years ago, at age 38. The decision to start creating again changed everything in her life. Melissa went from an 18-year corporate career to becoming a full-time creative entrepreneur. She is the founder and owner of M. Herriott Designs. A Charlotte-based firm that creates custom artwork and helps clients near and far design and decorate their homes. 

While she appreciates realism in art, she gravitates towards the abstract. Her hope is to make you FEEL something. What Melissa loves most about art is the mystery. The unpredictability of what emerges. She believes that art speaks to places deep inside of all of us that can’t be reached with words and that it isn’t art if there isn’t some sort of imperfection. 

Melissa’s work can be found all over Charlotte and beyond. She has received awards at juried art shows, painted live at non-profit galas, been featured on WCCB TV and in QC Magazine. She was named one of  “Twenty Female Charlotte Artists Who Are Shaping The Arts Landscape.” An ink painting of Herriott’s was selected as part of a Plaza Midwood community beautification project and can be found blown up on a traffic box on The Plaza.

Melissa works one-on-one with clients to create custom commission pieces and makes the rest of her work available on her website (MHerriottDesigns.com) and Instagram (MelissaHerriott).