In college, Melody Maleitzke discovered that surrealism was her passion and tended toward the provocative, like painting a bird of paradise in place of the Washington Monument at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The delicate balance and impermanence of things, ideals, thoughts, and lives was born in her art.

She continued to dabble in floral design, crafts, jewelry, and sculpture and was a teacher of these arts and crafts for many years. She also found time to write and create art for children’s books, and comic books, as well as won an award at the San Diego Comic Con Masquerade for her original, handmade costume of Elytra. The garment of the costume was crafted of hand-sewn beetle shells. A sculpted, larger-than-life, painted beetle was the back of the costume.

Fast forward to 2019, Melody came across washi tape. It was fascinating stuff, so she found herself buying more than was necessary for a craft project. One afternoon, her daughter was bored and Melody said, “Let’s ‘paint’ with washi tape.” They both grabbed a canvas and decided to do portraits of each other.

That’s when the magic happened. The world of washi tape art opened up and Melody began the path of creating art with the delicate, patterned tape as her medium. She found a medium that embodies the essence of the “art of letting go” and is always in a state of flux.

Melody lives and creates on Bainbridge Island, Washington, and is overjoyed with the Pacific Northwest.