B. K. Nash works in pastels, but is unable to protect the work when using this vibrant but delicate medium because of lack of coating supplies available to prisoners in Tennessee. The artist therefore sends each piece to the Prison Art Gallery as soon as it is completed so that it can be properly protected and preserved. Nash depicts the reaction by prisoners to stressful situations they encounter while behind bars as a common subject in the artist's renderings. "The tragedy," says Nash, "is that we have no one on the outside who truly understands what we are going through. Even our closest loved ones cannot grasp the everyday situations in prison that make us so upset."