revised: 8 June 2008 webmother:  mara statnekov copyright 2000~2008    Melinda K. Hall

"Someone once asked who had given me permission to paint the way I do.  I thought that was a wonderful question because in it was the implication that the work was somehow outside of some set of rules to which a painter had to comply.  Painting isn't a matter of rules, rather it's an arena of freedom and creative liberty where no permission is required-that is, if one paints authentically. My style evolved in the struggle of push and pull between artist and canvas, in the space of my own private, quirky, little battleground of observation, interpretation, intention and application.  What has resulted is a visual journal, a commentary on many universal subjects.  I use a lot of humor, metaphor, playfulness and color in my paintings......I want the work to be initially accessible.  And then once I draw in the viewer there can be plenty of things lurking in the shadows."