Phillip J. Mellen interviews painter Ashley Garrett about her work.

Garrett comments: "What's important in my work is having a sense of being grounded in the world, taking in the outside world… paying attention to light, sound, smell, touch, feeling, all the tactile stuff – [to be] bristling with attention." She continues, noting that this attention "is a huge resource of information.. always overflowing with content. I find that whenever I go that direction in terms of making art …even if it changes really dramatically from the source material… that it's the most relatable and usually it has the most force."