Meet the Artist: Melissa Berrios-Penny MalisBEE

Melissa Berrios-Penny MalisBEE
“Embark” Mosaic tile work

Growing up in Portersville, CA Melissa always knew she would be an artist. She has lived up and down the west coast and landed in Vallejo around 2016. Along the way, she earned her college degree in art and became a teacher before she embarked on her most important role—parent and mother. For much of that time, Melissa could not concentrate full time on her own artistic endeavors, and it was pushed to the back burner. It was not until her children entered school that she was able to refocus herself on art, and more importantly creating her own. While much of her background was in ceramics, she decided to pick up the paintbrush as she would be able to stop and start more easily on projects when her children and life needed attention.

Then came an unexpected opportunity. Melissa was obligated to do some volunteer work at her children's school and she offered up her painting skills. Some unadorned cabinets became her canvas and given more freedom she painted much of her children’s classroom. Melissa brought forth some favorite literary characters on the cabinets, walls, and even the ceiling. The children and the school loved her work so much that she was offered the opportunity to paint the whole side of the school. The community then saw her work and that led to several more opportunities.

When Melissa was selected for this project with SolTrans she decided to go back to her ceramic roots and use them in a mosaic. She had never done a mosaic before but what she found was that it is like painting with ceramic pieces. Her painting and ceramics became one for this project. In creating her design, she thought back to her own time using public transportation and how riding on the bus freed up her mind to think about things. Taking a journey on a bus for her always felt like an adventure. She wanted to convey that feeling to the people experiencing her mosaic. The journey and adventure of not just a single trip or a day, but also one’s journey and adventure over a lifetime. The Monarch butterflies and sailboats, things people would typically see in the area also represent the themes of journeys and adventures as well as bringing a sense of freedom, whimsy, and beauty to the piece.

Other local artists contributed as well by helping to craft some of the butterflies and sailboats in the mosaic. If you notice the blue sailboat, created by another artist, it has symbols on it. Those symbols are Fijian and mean good luck and good wishes. Melissa felt that collaboration and the unique images and feelings other artists incorporated into their tiles added a special beauty to the overall piece and a greater sense of inclusion.

If you are interested in seeing more of Melissa’s art, you can go to Shasta Street between Carl Avenue and Fleming Avenue in Vallejo to see her George Floyd mural. You can also see her Instagram at Malisbee.