Arctic Circle was the first painting that JMe uses the excess of discarded materials from his studio floor to create layers of texture and complexity. The painting benefits and exudes energy from the raw impulse of the artist, not knowing exactly where he was going with the composition until the painting starts taking form with the color transparencies and the vaneer of thinned gesso layers. The subtext of the title and visual conceit of the painting is that all the “debris,” the flotsam and jetsam of social and technological progress has been discarded, submerged and frozen, hidden from humanity but as a result of global warming the refuse of civilization’s “advanced” culture begins to thaw, surface and reveal the challenging truth of the post-industrial international wasteland. Within this bleak vision is a beauty of change, adaptation and the hope for strategic improvement to our world. A reminder that US, the people who rely on the miracle of life and resources here on Earth have the power to improve and initiate direct action for a global rebirth and a commitment to conservation, to protect, nurture and respect all living things.