Backstage with Tanner Bouwhuis & Melanie Francis
Every artist approaches influence a little differently.
Some are drawn to the energy of movement and storytelling on a big scale. Others are pulled toward the quiet power of words and the way a single sentence can linger in your mind for years.
This week, we’re stepping backstage with two artists who explore those ideas in very different ways.
Tanner Bouwhuis
Painting Steven Spielberg
Tanner’s creative world usually lives somewhere between film sets and notebooks.
Filmmaking is his first love, but during the long stretches between projects he finds himself reaching for simpler tools — fat pencils, crayons, a typewriter — anything that makes the creative process feel a little more tactile and a little less polished.
It’s a way of keeping curiosity alive.
So it felt natural for him to dive into Steven Spielberg.
Spielberg’s films shaped how a generation experienced storytelling — the scale, the emotion, the sense that adventure and imagination could live in the same frame.
Tanner has been revisiting Spielberg’s early work, paying attention to the ideas before the success. The risks before the recognition.
Because sometimes the most interesting part of influence isn’t the finished masterpiece.
It’s the persistence behind it.
Melanie Francis
Painting James Joyce
Melanie’s work moves fluidly between watercolor and mixed media, often inspired by the world around her — landscapes, people, and the quiet moments that make everyday life feel meaningful.
But she’s always had a special connection to literature.
The written word has a way of shaping how we see the world, and few writers did that more boldly than James Joyce.
Joyce challenged structure. He experimented with language. He asked readers to slow down and experience a story differently.
Melanie has been revisiting his writing and reflecting on the legacy he left behind — not just as an author, but as someone who expanded what storytelling could look like.
Her hope is simple: that viewers pause for a moment and consider why a voice like his continues to matter.
