Clothing Design
Melissa won numerous top awards for her designs while attending fashion design school in Chicago. She was the only one to win both top design awards in a single competition among 45 fashion design schools in the Midwest region: Best of Show and The Rita Johnston Award / Scholarship at Fashion Group Internationals 1998 design competition. These awards presented her with the opportu
nity to study abroad and travel extensively throughout parts of Europe. She completed her internship alongside Manuel Cuevas – Couture Designer of The Entertainment World – at his couture house in Nashville, Tennessee. There she assisted in creating stylish masterpieces for several high profile artists including the late Johnny Cash. While building her business in Chicago, Melissa was an Associate Professor of Fashion Design and Merchandising at International Academy of Merchandising and Design. She later accepted an opportunity from O’More College of Design in Franklin, TN. There she lead the expansion of the fashion design department through a four year growth phase which included overseeing all remodeling of the sewing lab in addition to constructing new class outlines and collaborating on re-construction of Fashion Design Curriculum. She also assisted O’More president, Dr. K. Mark Hilliard in public relations and campus growth opportunities. During this time, she completed training in Atlanta GA and earned her computer-aided pattern drafting certification from Gerber Technology. She was the only certified “Gerber Girl” in the state of TN. Finally making it to New Mexico, Melissa feels at home and resides in Albuquerque, a few blocks away from her beloved Route 66. Under her artist name “Melissa Lea”, she provides couture and custom clothing services and is creating her own clothing line. Her other artistic endeavors, Melissa Lea fine art jewelry and photography, is available in select galleries throughout the state. Melissa is the Founder and Executive Director of the Albuquerque Apparel Center, New Mexico Fashion Week, and NMFashionInfo.com. All of these focused on helping to connect, support, and grow New Mexico’s apparel and fashion industry. Melissa Lea Jewelry
Integrating the energetic spirit of nature into the art of Jewelry, Melissa Lea’s wholistic creations take one spiritually to a certain place in nature. Created with Natural Stones and Fossils, as well as Handmade Beads from many World Cultures, her interpretations allow one to experience the essence of the natural world and carry the unique spirit of exotic locations and cultures with you wherever you go. Melissa adds “By weaving both artistic energy and the energy from a unique location into my own inspirations, I create a piece made specifically for one individual. Then it is my responsibility to the Creator to find the person for whom that piece is destined.”
Keep Balance and Harmony with you in this hectic world...
Designing Jewelry is my escape from the fast paced, electronic, massed produced world. While designing I exist in a peaceful, tranquil world of beauty and relaxation. This positive energy is released into each piece of jewelry and carries over to the wearer. Balance with Nature, resulting in Balance with Oneself is an absolute necessity...
Everyday is a rush of things to do in a world where many feel like merely a number. It is important to get out into nature to reconnect and recharge ones Spirit. Trade the concrete and blacktop for a hike in the park, a day at the spa or a picnic. And a perfect way to keep this “Connection,” "Charge," and "Balance" with you than by wearing a piece of nature infused jewelry specially designed by Melissa Lea. Melissa Lea ~ Photography Bio
Melissa Lea has been capturing moments, places and feelings through photography nearly all her life and has been studying its dynamics since her first photography class in high school. Melissa’s first childhood camera in the late 1970’s, at age seven, encased 110 film. Since then she has worked with a wide array of formats including Pinhole Box, 4x5, Manual 35mm, and Digital. Her greatest enjoyment during the “darkroom days” was manipulating images through varied exposures, as Ansel Adam's was famous for, and hand painting color into finished black & white and sepia prints. In the digital age, Melissa continues this same creativity of print manipulation via exposures and color. Only now her paintbrush has been replaced with a computer mouse, manually detailing every aspect. Melissa constantly explores new ways of printing and presentation and comments, “I like to think outside the box. I find life more exciting and interesting that way”. On a spiritual level, Melissa comments, “Surrounding ourselves with views of nature and other peaceful things recharges our spirit which allows us to live a happy, more peaceful, complete life. I feel blessed to experience the beauty and wonder that surrounds me on a physical, spiritual and creative level. And I am excited and honored to share these experiences with others through my photography.”
Melissa Lea has traveled various areas of Europe, Canada, and Hawaii. She has also traveled extensively across the mainland United States. She has explored a large range of terrain and cultures from Yellowstone to the Everglades, the Four Corners Region to the Smoky Mountains and the Hawaiian Islands to Ground Zero. During her 20’s Melissa resided in Chicago where she became deeply involved with the Native American community. She documented several events and ceremonies both public and private. Melissa continues to journey across numerous parts of the United States, mostly driving the “Blue Highways”, her favorite being Old Route 66. She has traveled various portions of The Mother Road over several years, starting when she was just 8 years old. She drove the entire route solo from Chicago to Santa Monica in 2006. Her Route 66 portion of photography is displayed in museums and shops across the country along the route. Melissa Lea has been a staff photographer and writer for the international publication of Route 66 magazine as well as the New Mexico Route 66 magazine. She is currently President of the New Mexico Route 66 Association and an active board member of The Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership - working to establish the entirety of the Mother Road a National Historic Trail. Born in Bedford Indiana, resided in Chicago IL from 1992 – 2003 and Nashville TN from 2003 – 2007, Melissa now resides in Albuquerque New Mexico.... 2 blocks from her beloved Route66. Wholistic Wellness
Living naturally and healthy is a lifestyle. It takes time and dedication. But its an EASY dedication. Over the years your body has been repeatedly filled with toxic chemicals. From the food we eat, to personal grooming products, to cleaning supplies, we have been constantly killing our bodies with poison. Have you ever actually READ the ingredients on a bottle of shampoo? Most of the words we cant even begin to pronounce. What about toothpaste. Many of us have never stopped to think about the fact that it states clearly on the tube to "call Poison Control if swallowed". They are telling us it's Poisonous, yet we put it in our mouth anyway..... and we scrub it into our gums! Do you know the poison is still going into our body as it soaks through our gums? Why do we do this? Why do we, women especially, use deodorant that has been repeatedly proven to cause cancer? Because its $.50 - $1.50 cheaper (at time of purchase) than a natural version? Let's add up the cost of sickness the chemicals in products are causing us. Doctor visits (we take time off work to go to), prescription medications (that actually Harm us), hospital stays (we all know how fun those are.... NOT!), chemo-therapy
(which kills the body internally). The ultimate price.... your life! How much is your life worth to you? How much is living a Healthy life worth to you? I have one simple motto: If you can't pronounce the ingredients and/or you don't know what they are, don't eat it and don't put it on your body! Do you want to live a healthy, happy life? The first step is easy. Start replacing toxic items in your home you use everyday with healthy ones, like soap, toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, and home cleaning products. I can help you with this fresh new start. Do you take vitamins and/or supplements that you have learned are filled with dangerous ingredients or "filler" that does nothing for you? Or maybe the supplements simply are not producing the positive results they should be. There are true, natural supplements available. I can help find the right ones for you. Do you know what essential oils are and what they mean to humans and animals? They are simply plants the creator has given use to use in order to help us stay healthy, protect us from sickness, help us mend after an injury, make us smell good, and much more. Some are plants, trees, and shrubs you come in contact with everyday. Many of these are the core ingredients prescription medications are made of, except the natural properties are eliminated once the
pharmaceutical companies add toxic ingredients to them, many of which have been proven to actually Cause Sickness and Disease. Essential oils are the healthy way we were intended to take care of ourselves, and intended to enjoy! There are A LOT of essential oils out there in the world! Many contain alcohol and other additives in order to produce larger amounts of the product so companies can make a larger profit. This means they are not pure. I would love to introduce you to essential oils that are 100% pure, therapeutic grade, grown in their natural homeland environments all over the world, and show you how they can add to your well-being. I can help you get on the right track to gaining control of your health ... and your life, and back to a happy, healthy you (and your family)!
