Melissa Milaković
With over twenty years of experience in the creative arts and at 37 years old, I went back to school to study Interior Decorating. It became the bridge between design fundamentals and my fine art background.
While still a student and after graduating, my "if you don't ask, you don't get" motto led me to work alongside top set designers and prop stylists in New York, Vancouver, and Toronto for clients like Verizon, Bloomingdales, Schumacher, and Shopify, sharpening my eye for composition and visual impact.
[insert the year 2020 here]
I had to reimagine my path forward. An idea began to emerge of a concept shop designed to feel like walking into my home—an artist's home—a space where guests quickly felt at home, joyfully taking in all the treasures all around them. It would also be the place where you could find the perfect gift for a friend, a rare stone coffee table or fabulous MCM chairs they can't find anywhere else.
Or, of course, a place to simply be inspired.
From hand-sketching, concept development, and branding to drawing, painting and sewing, my diverse creative background fuels my passion and understanding for designing spaces that evoke personal expression and intrigue.
I am also a part-time professor at Algonquin College in Ottawa, ON.
artist statement
My approach is simple: listen, observe, brainstorm, create.
After years of exploring a multitude of creative avenues, working in three-dimensional space is where I can most confidently bridge my skills, talent and deep desire to connect to the human story. It is through our environment and the spaces we keep that we can find true peace of mind, refuge and solace.
My motivation to do this work lies in my earnest belief in the collective power of space and beauty and the way in which it influences our lives. There is no question that space can inspire or impair us, that mindful decoration or thoughtful design can change the landscape of our experiences. Visual storytelling has immeasurable reach, the ability to affect lives and history, to provoke change globally or emotionally, or to simply offer a small dose of pleasure to an anonymous passerby.
This has been my own personal discovery which I continue to investigate wholeheartedly.