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Margie Melby was born in New York and presently lives in El Paso, Texas.  She graduated from U.T. Austin with a BA in Psychology and while attending graduate school embarked on an art career making paper mache box purses.  Art has been a major focus in her life since.  She has been a painter, enamelist and finally found her passion for metalwork, creating “Art for the Body”. She studied for five years with Rachelle Thiewes at UTEP and has taken workshops with Boris Bally, Richard Mawdsley, Glenda Arentzen, Claire Sanford, Bob Ebendorf, and others.  

Margie Melby lives part-time on her ranch in New Mexico where the rich archaeological sites have had a profound influence on her most recent pieces.  Her work is taken on a simpler and more primitive form. While at the ranch there may be a kids’ camp in a session where Melby teaches arts and crafts, an archaeological seminar studying the Indian pueblo, or a group of city slickers.  When time permits, Margie rides her cutting horses, gathers cattle, and collects ideas for more art.