Rachel Steely (James) has always been attracted to natural, organic objects and chooses to portray them with oil on textured surfaces. Often, she presents her subject in "dynamic still life" with a shift of time through movement or growwth-decay. These moments are when one looks back and remembers glimpses of what came before. One's eyes are restricted to seeing the present-however though the mind's eye and the image, these moments can be superimposed.Time and animation are integral to her paintings. She has experimented with skeletons, plants, butterflies, and then takes flight to examine speed, pattern, and imagination. Steely is drawn to the complexity of the humane figure in its physical, psychological, and spiritual intricacy. We move, breathe and travel through time like other creatures, but also assert a heightened empathy with a reflection of ourselves.