Tired of frigid temperatures, dirty snow piles and late-afternoon sunsets?
Soak up the vibrant floral artwork of Methuen resident Alan Michel and give yourself an early dose of spring fever! His art exhibit “In the Presence of Flowers: An Intimate Immersion into Color, Light, and Renewal,” opens March 1 at Methuen Community Studios on Aegean Drive.
It features a dozen large-scale “photo paintings” which, as the artist describes it, bring “the viewer closer to the floral subject. Rather than presenting flowers as decorative still lifes, they are magnified, allowing viewers to enter their interior landscapes,” he says. “ ‘In the Presence of Flowers’ is, at its core, an invitation: to slow down, to look more closely, and to allow beauty to unfold gradually. In a world often defined by speed and distraction, the exhibition offers a moment of stillness — an opportunity to stand, quite literally, in the presence of flowers.”
He describes “photo painting” as “a layered process in which my photographic images are developed digitally emphasizing color relationships, abstraction and spatial depth and then are printed to canvas in process similar to air brush. While the work originates in the camera, it evolves into something more painterly —less about documentation and more about interpretation. Petals dissolve into fields of saturated color; stems and shadows create rhythmic patterns; light becomes an active presence shaping the composition. The result is not simply a photograph of a flower, but an immersive visual experience.”
Michel trained as a sculptor. His professional life involved developing arts-education programs for inner-city children in Greater Boston. He founded the Bates Arts Center in Boston and directed HOME, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to community and media arts programming for more than 40 years.
“Though sculpture was my first love, the fusion of photography and painting has become my most resonant medium,” he says. “It offers both immediacy and transformation — capturing a moment in time while allowing space for interpretation and emotional depth.”
