Mehtab Kardaş was born in Istanbul in 1949. She graduated from Üsküdar American High School in 1967. Kardaş started her illumination and miniature studies with Mamure Öz, and attended Topkapı Palace Museum Traditional Turkish Decorative Arts Certificate Course in 1992-1993. She also attended Kerim Silivri’s Traditional Turkish Arts classes at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 1994-1995, and continued her studies at Mamure Öz-Semih İrteş Workshop between 1994-1999. Kardaş held nineteen personal exhibitions and participated in thirty-four group exhibitions both at home and abroad. The competitions she took part in are: 2001, Academie International de Lutece, Paris (bronze medal) and 2005, L’aigle de Nice, Grasse.