A native of Michigan, Melissa Bisbee Orme graduated from the School of Architecture and Design at The University of Michigan where she majored in painting and earned a BS in Design. She has worked as an art teacher, a painter in oil and acrylic and also as a printmaker.

In the 80's, she took a course in watercolor and began her love affair with the medium.” For me, painting is a projection of the spirit. Watercolor provides the perfect vehicle for this expression through its infinite range of possibilities. It is a playground for spontaneity. My objective is to manipulate color with water to create images that reflect the essence of the subject.”

Ms. Orme also studied at the New York Botanical Garden where she earned a certificate in Landscape Design and started her own design firm. She has designed numerous gardens for private residences in the northeast. She refers to garden design as “designing and painting with plants – another medium for the painter.” Her garden illustrations have appeared in House Beautiful magazine. Her own garden was featured in Connecticut Cottages & Gardens magazine in June of 2007.

During the past four years she has devoted the majority of her time to watercolor, studying with Phyllis Rutigliano at Silvermine Guild Arts Center in New Canaan, CT.

Ms. Orme is an exhibiting member of The Rowayton Arts Center and exhibits widely in group and juried shows in the Tri State area. Her first one woman show was mounted at the Town & County Club in Hartford, CT in March of 2009. In May, her second solo show was hung at Garden of Ideas, in Ridgefield, CT. Her work can be found in private collections throughout the United States and England.