About the Artist

Melissa Twentey Gryder lives and works in Annapolis, Maryland.  She received her BFA in 1999 from Frostburg State University.  She went on to continue study at Oxford University and University of North Florida.  She spent over a decade studying portraiture and color extensively with Cedric Egeli, John Ebersberger and at the Cape School of Art in Provincetown, MA.  She has been a well-received art teacher at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts for the last 2 years and Anne Arundel Community College Continuing Education program for 6 years.  She has been featured in national juried exhibitions and museum shows throughout the United States. Her works are included in collections in the United States, Japan & England.  She is an active member of Portrait Society of America, Oil Painters of American, American Impressionist Society and the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association.  She is currently the Vice President of the Maryland Society of Portrait Painters, of which she has served on the board for the past 8 years.