In her newest body of work, “Persona Practice,” Melanie Ruston pinpoints intimate moments within different types of human relationships, including one's relationship with oneself.  Often using the human figure, she tells stories about how humans of all ages work hard, communicate, succeed, fail, and try again.  While many of her works are autobiographical, she also draws inspiration from her work as an educator of preschool aged children.  Her research of the Reggio Emilia teaching philosophy led her to the writing of Cesare Musatti, who posited that “A child’s most sought-after goal is to recognize him- or her-self in others,” and that even the development of the youngest child constitutes the “matrix of social life as later developed in adulthood… the foundation for likes and dislikes, for affinities and even for love.” The characters in Ruston’s paintings represent personal and social journeys throughout both childhood and adulthood.