Tracy Melton

"My work is an expression of what I see while hiking and camping in the Appalachian Mountains. It is based on how nature develops, grows, dies, and is born again. I like to engage in a nonverbal conversation about nature with the public through my paintings. My work allows me to think abstractly about the natural cycle of life."

I am inspired by unique objects he sees in nature: hollowed out trees, wildflowers, salamanders' spots, clear, cold mountain stream waters, fungi, rattlesnake skin, moss, lichen on rocks,a mountain rain pouring straight down, the Great Smoky Mountains, creek bottoms, Tennessee in the cool green spring, the Grand Canyon in winter, and wide open spaces.