Melissa Duncan, winner of V-Con′s 2010 “Best Body of Work” distinction, is fast becoming recognised for her fantasy and folklore artistry. Born in Toronto, and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Melissa′s very first lessons in painting came from her mother. An introspective child, a survivor of the crippling effects of Polio, she was captivated by the graphic works of Sulamith Wulfing, Arthur Rackham, and the Pre-Raphaelites.
Having grown up with images of knights in shining armour, fair maidens, and tales of the mythic faye, it is hardly surprising that, in her late teens, Melissa became a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. It is there that she was first introduced to the notion of seriously studying Medieval and Renaissance art practice. Due to encouragement given her from members of the group, and her daughters, Melissa decided to further her schooling. To that end she studied graphic arts at Douglas College in the Fraser Valley. In 1991, she graduated from Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, BC.
Melissa′s art has been known to spark lively if not heated philosophical debate; to which Melissa would attest that the Fairytale, however fantastic to our modern senses, was never intended as childish entertainment. Thus pictorial representations of those self same themes should not prove any less powerful or be treated with anything other than complete earnestness.
Like the tales written by The Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson or J.K. Rowling, the characters that populate Melissa′s paintings and drawings are just as they should be. Preferring to root her fantasy in the careful study of folklore, history and reality Melissa′s art is as much a reflection of "Once Upon A Time" as it is a series of character studies and they are often veiled essays into the human condition. Frequently her work has an autobiographical subtext with the realm of the Faye being a metaphor for the real story. As such, friends and family frequently find themselves depicted in her carefully crafted images as fairy queens, elfin lords or personifications of the seasons.
Melissa lives in the historic city of New Westminster, British Columbia with her husband and a long haired cat of generous proportion named Mozart. She also has two similarly creative daughters. A devout Anglican, Melissa remains a history buff as well as a student of Celtic, English and Northern European folklore.