All About Mena Dragonfly
I’m Melanie Mena. I’m Canadian. I grew up in Ontario & I lived in BC for a while, but my roots are on the East Coast on the island of Newfoundland.
At a very young age my Uncle Bill often found me in mud puddles, making mud pies so he gave me the nickname Mud & I sometimes wonder if he might have inadvertently set the course of my life.
While I was in high school my Art teacher Mr. Flannigan said, “I bet you’d enjoy making pottery on the wheel,” & he encouraged me to take a wheel throwing class if I ever had the opportunity.
Many years later, after university, after a cross-country move, after getting a “real” job, I saw an ad for wheel throwing workshops at my local community centre. I remembered Mr. Flannigan’s suggestion and signed up for the beginner class, he was right – I love wheel throwing.
I took my first class around 2000 & I’ve been making pottery ever since. After 4 years of workshops at the community centre I found a studio space and I continued learning on my own.
I kept practicing & making pottery on my own for about 10 years while I worked at various desks for various companies. Then I lost my job. I was blindsided & it took me a while to recover but it was an opportunity to really change my life.
I wrote a business plan, I designed my first three lines of pottery & on December 1, 2010 I launched my business Mena Dragonfly.