Melissa Egan was born in Sydney in 1959. She attended the World College of South East Asia in Singapore and then gained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Australian National University. She also holds a Diploma of Education from the Canberra College of Advanced Education.

Creating paintings is a part of Melissa Egan's everyday life and many of her subjects are drawn from childhood memories, marriage and motherhood. Her family, friends and the day to day tasks she performs provide a plateau on which she builds her works. Egan views herself more as a creator than as an artist.

Labels concern her. She began painting as a child and for her, becoming a successful artist is the realisation of a life-long passion. Balance and harmony prevail in Egan's work. "If I can achieve an overall balance in my paintings then other components have usually been achieved in a spontaneous and unconscious manner".

The Australian landscape provides the backdrop for her paintings and figures. She uses the landscape as a stage for her "actors". Egan says "while figures predominate in the majority of the work, it is their interconnectedness with their environment that lends plausibility to their existence. To me, the landscape, the figures and the animals interrelate with one another to be of equal importance".

Melissa Egan's work is represented in corporate and private collections in Australia and overseas.