Melissa Palmer is a multidisciplinary artist with a background in microbiology. She explored art through an unconventional medium during her MSc in Microbiology—painting with living microbes on agar plates! She used the natural textures and pigments of bacteria and fungi, to transform petri dishes into biological artwork, blurring the line between science and creativity.

As her artistic journey evolved and her family grew, she transitioned to acrylic painting, bringing her scientific perspective into a new medium. Her works often reflect themes of nature, microbiology, community, the unseen, and overlooked. Through pure, neutralized colour, familiar landscapes, and wild and organic forms, she continues to merge art and science, inviting viewers to consider the wonders of life on both macroscopic and microscopic scales.

Melissa’s artwork has been displayed locally in Kelowna, BC, and has been featured in movies filmed in the Okanagan Valley. Her community pieces have been appraised as spiritual and unifying. She has immensely enjoyed painting for families who have commissioned artwork of sentimentally significant Canadian landscapes.

Melissa lives with her partner and 2 little ones in Kelowna, BC, where she also experiments with dyes, textiles, and grows native edible plants. She often turns on tunes and paints with her kids, noting that their additions challenge her to adapt, invite more fluid brushwork, and encourages reimagined visual representations.

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