Melissa Mailer-Yates purposefully avoided art college as she was unsure about becoming a part of the great out-wash that appeared to be the end product of the system. She was commissioned by Her Majesty the Queen, which led to her early success. This fillip led her to other exciting commissions, most notably portraits of Princesses for the Saudi Arabian Royal Family, and more Betsy Bloomingdale, and the Consul-General of Los Angeles. She has shown extensively in Britain and had a wonderful solo exhibition in New York in 1997 that was followed by the BBC. She has also exhibited in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Aspen, Colorado. She worked directly with the Medical Arts Program at UCLA, which coincided, with her being made an honorary board member of the Fine Art Dealers of America.