Mel Vera Cruz was born in 1964 in the Philippines.  He had two major migrations.  First, from the province of Quezon to the city of Manila,  then from Manila to the San Francisco Bay Area.  He spent his early years as a country boy where nature was his playground.   Vera Cruz graduated with a BFA at the University of Santo Tomas.  He founded an art group during his years as art director in an advertising agency in Manila and then collaborated on several projects.  He has exhibited at the Yerba Buena Gardens, Martin Luther King Library in Washington DC, Movida Lounge, Pusod Center in Berkeley,  and has been a featured artist by Kearny Street Workshop, and Pro-Arts in Oakland.  He is currently a tattoo artist working in his home-based studio in Hayward.