“SOMETIMES, the most essential part of the process is the part no one notices,” says Juanita Bellavance.

Like all artists, she begins with a blank canvas. To Bellavance, the blank canvas is alive with potential, fraught with energy—waiting. “Before any paint goes down, there’s always a beginning,” she says. “It’s quiet, loose and full of possibility.”

Starting with marks made using graphite and water-soluble media, Bellavance seals those initial marks with a clear medium to prevent them from smearing, preserving the integrity of her original thoughts, movements—energy. “It’s intuitive,” she says. “Messy in a good way. A way to start the conversation with the surface. Most people never see these layers, but they matter. They give the painting history and depth, even if it stays hidden. There’s power in what’s not seen.”

The internationally known Atlanta-based artist has built her career on the nature-inspired paintings that bear her trademark use of color and layering, creating peaceful interpretations that offer solace in a turbulent and noisy world. Blending realism and abstraction, these pieces differ in tone and energy to her abstract works, which convey exuberance and joy balanced by a contrasting sense of tranquility—all of which, to Bellavance, represent nature’s nuances and abstract emotions.