Melanie G. Twelves was born in Oklahoma, but was raised in Florida. She returned to Oklahoma in 1980 and lives in Duncan. Melanie has always loved visual art and as a young child spent hours with crayons.

She received a B.S.M.T. (A.S.C.P.) degree in Medical Technology from Baylor University Medical Center in 1964. She did graduate work at Baylor from 1968 to 1971. After moving to Houston, Texas via Alaska, she began her art studies at the University of Houston in 1978. She completed her BA in Art at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha, Oklahoma. She has continued her art education at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma. Melanie is on the Stephens County Jail Ministry team and is a member of All Saints Episcopal Church of Duncan.

Much of her work is done in print media, including serigraphy, lithography, linocut, woodcut, or monoprint. She also enjoys oil painting. She has most recently been working with oil or acrylic on wood making crosses and retablos. Melanie and her husband, Ron, have a ministry and business making handmade crosses and triptychs. Her latest works include Black and American Indian Stations of the Cross.

All the images I use in my work are gifts from God. He is extravagant, and gives me hundreds of them. They reveal to me His perfect love for me as I journey down my spiritual path. Most of my images are life giving and I began to realize that when my life was most chaotic God gave to me the most peaceful images. Images that healed my feminine soul

I feel called in my artwork to glorify God in a simple, direct and personal way. Most of my work is contemporary in style. My work seems to me to be connected to, and a continuation of the work of Artists who have proceeded me in history. This, I believe, is due to the fact that the images reflect never changing eternal truths of God's love for His creation.

There are several symbols that appear often in my work that may need my interpretation, but the viewer, I hope, will find his own. The upside down heart is the image of God's heart, open and pouring out. The image of two angels show God's constant protection and grace as well as a need for community. I am often seen as a wee babe or child in Christ, which I truly am in reality. The circular and egg shapes seem to say rebirth, safety, and wholeness. The words I receive are also part of the art work (titles). They are given to me during my meditations and prayers.

The symbols that are given to me speak to the heart in a spiritual language. The head, or intellect, may follow. On any given theme I may receive ten to fifty images. Some of the themes I have developed into art pieces or series of art pieces are Rebirth, Inner Healing, The Trinity, The Eucharist, The Rosary, Prayer, The Cross, The Virgin Mary, The Feminine Soul, and Reconciliation. Most recently I am working on the theme of Community of all races. The cross has become a major part of my work. I have designed Stations of the Cross and have a ministry and business making crosses and triptychs. Also, God has called me to be a Jail Minister. I am able to use my art in this ministry to the women in jail and prison. My imagery has become a powerful bridge showing the Protestant world the many windows and doors to the Sacred available through the Catholic faith.

If I were to describe my work in totality including all my journals to finished art pieces, I would give it the title, "A Love Affair with God." Amen