Melanie Douthit, artist from West Monroe, Louisiana, started painting in 1983 and fell in love with the process. Melanie is from an Algonquin Anishinaabe descent. That heritage combined with Louisiana influence creates an "Algonquin Anishinaabe Louisiana" flair to her work. Melanie works in acrylic and watercolor as well as creating mixed media collage pieces. She also works with pen and ink, colored pencil and conte pastels.

Melanie's work has been displayed locally and in regional shows and art competitions which include the Downtown Monroe Artists Crawls (six time a year), Snyder Museum, Natchitoches Art Guild, Franklin Parish Catfish Festival, Old Post Office Museum, Winnsboro, LA, El Dorado Art Center, Ruston Peach Festival, Arkansas's Oil and Brine Museum, Shreveport's Barnwell Garden and Art Center, and Mitchell Museum in Tyler, Texas. She is a current member of the Ouachita River Art Gallery, and a past member of the Hoover Watercolor Society and Mississippi Watercolor Society.

Melanie has been nominated in the top five for Best Artist by Delta Style Magazine in 2011 and 2012. Her works are included in private collections across the United States and in Canada, Puerto Rico, United Kingdom and Greece.

Look for Melanie's work in new locations of Mimi's Cafe. Mimi's Cafe currently owns over 30 of Melanie's Mardi Gras Dachshund paintings and they will be hanging in restaurants nation-wide!