Melissa Stephens
Artist Bio
Melissa Stephens is an encaustic painter, photographer, and printmaker who has spent the last 15 years educating children and adults in the arts. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, with a BA in Art from Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa, she continues her own arts education through workshops and specialized instruction. Her encaustic paintings explore personal stories with themes of healing, human connection, and hand-written correspondence.
She is an encaustic painting instructor, working artist, curator and advocate for the arts in Walnut Creek, California. Her encaustic paintings are collected, exhibited, and sold in galleries throughout the United States. She has served as the Social Media Chair of Valley Art Gallery in Walnut Creek, CA since 2016. In 2024 she began serving as the Exhibition Director for the International Encaustic Artists Organization (IEA). In 2022 she co-founded the NorCAL Wax Chapter, an IEA extension.
That same year, Stephens created Hope Lives: Art for ALS, an annual fundraising art exhibition in San Francisco, to honor her sister who was diagnosed with ALS in July 2020. Partnering with the ALS Network and the ALS Therapy Development Institute, the exhibition raises awareness and provides funding for ALS research.
In addition to her own teaching studio, Stephens records encaustic tutorials on her YouTube channel The Encaustic Edge. She is an art business coach and web designer for older artists and volunteers at several galleries and art institutions in the Bay Area. Her artwork recently exhibited at the North Gallery, Edmonds, WA; Mulranny Art Center, Ireland; San Antonio Arts Alliance and Museum, San Antonio, TX (Juror’s Award); Encaustic Art Museum, Cerrillo, NM; Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, Ellensburg, WA; Morro Bay Art Center, Morro Bay; Propeller Gallery, Toronto; Art Benicia, Benicia; Bedford Gallery & Valley Art Gallery, Walnut Creek; San Francisco Women Artists Gallery, San Francisco.