Mel LV Ruiz is an artist and woodworker based in Queens, NY. Though a (former) graphic designer by trade, her true passions had always lay far away from the design machine. Her personal work is a combination of self reflection and spiritual understanding by mode of pencil, paint, and knife to wood. Matters of the soul are explored through her signature use of birds, as well as the familiar, and familial faces from her past.

"It's important to remember where you came from, the roots of what make your hands work in the way they do. I remember whittling wood on my porch with my grandfather when I was around 5yrs old (yes, he let me handle a knife) That hand motion memory didn't come full circle until I was around 23yrs old, sitting in a woodblock printmaking class in college, and wondering why the hell I had this overwhelming sense of deja vu. Artistically, things fell into place after that. Woodworking was always something that was written in the cards for me. It was just patiently waiting in the background for me to remember and realize it."

Check out theINEFFAblog! to view new works in progress. The blog gets updates more frequently than the site, so take a moment and swing by when you can! xo LV.