When most kids were watching Saturday morning cartoons, Melan was watching Julia Child. Cooking shows were such a wonderful thing to watch for her but she also realized it was very frustrating because she could never taste these amazing dishes, or make them. All she could do was watch. Before learning to appreciate tasting food she had to learn to appreciate looking at it. This is what soon became Melan’s obsession with food. When she was finally able to safely use the oven at age nine, she was constantly baking. Food was more than subsistence to her and she found more ways to express her love of food as she grew up. She learned that making food and creating food on canvas are one and the same. That making a cake is really not so different whether you're using a spatula or a palette knife. Today Melan still has an obsession in the way food looks. You can find her lurking at bakeries and grocery stores, traveling to find the perfect fluffy pancakes, or making her own creation in her own kitchen.