Revival, 54" x 72"

Acrylic on Canvas.

"We're a little short of sunshine this winter, so I painted us some warmth and buds. Funny, around this time last year, I did a summer painting. It's a sign that I'm running out of steam in this never-ending month of January, I think... How scared I was that I wouldn't ever finish it. Between two colds and an arm injury that prevented me from doing my job, there was this agonizing but necessary break, for the body to heal.

Every day, I went to work on a trunk. Some buds. A few branches here and there. A mixture of fatigue and hope. On such a large surface, moving at a snail's pace makes you dizzy. But I made it this spring. It just took a little longer than usual. How long does it take, Mel, to make a big canvas like that? That's a good question. 75? 100 hours? I can't remember. Happiness can't really be measured in hours. Bring on the storms, my heart is warm."

Each painting invites viewers to truly immerse themselves in the forest, so they can better observe, smell, hear and reconnect with it. Through the play of light and by altering the dimensions of a subject, the artist shows how you can interpret a landscape in many different ways. Thus the depiction of say, a smudge of paint, can also be viewed as a particular shape, a splash of light, a piece of textured material – harking back to the spontaneity and distorted imagery that were characteristic of the Impressionist and Expressionist movements.