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Artist and naturalist Michelle Louis has a vigorous curiosity about the natural world. Her abstract landscape paintings document life, well-spent, in wild places. Archives
June 2019
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Slushy Valentine2/14/2017  Heart-shaped deer track in melting snow. ©2017 Michelle Louis How remarkable- to leave love-shaped tracks with every step. Happy Valentine's Day! "Keep close to nature's heart..." -John Muir
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 Exonym 3, 42"x 48" on canvas. Michelle Louis©2017 I've been assessing the concept of resistance and what we might learn about it from nature and Dr. Who. Think water. Think stone. Water can abruptly rip the side from a mountain or, given time, erode even the hardest stone. Its freeze/thaw cycle can turn concrete or stone to rubble. Stone may divert or slow water, but, unless tediously tended, water always wins. Stone can resist all it wants, but in the end, well, think Grand Canyon. According to psychoanalyst Carl Jung, "What you resist not only persists, but will grow in size." In other words, spending all our time fighting against the things we don't want is crazy. Okay, maybe "crazy" is a bit hyperbolic. But making time to focus on and plan for what we do want is critical, because resistance, alone, moves nothing. It obstructs, deters, or impedes. The need to maintain a permanent state of resistance keeps us captive, occupied, and distracted. Momentum and flow, on the other hand, are strengths or forces gained by gathering motion that drive toward critical mass- where real change occurs. Does that mean resistance is not a necessary part of the process? It feels imperative in this moment. How we think about our actions, whether to resist, or create momentum and flow- to become water- is consequential. Water always wins. Who will be the water? We get to choose by our actions. Water for greed or water for good? Something to ponder... "Water is patient, Adelaide. Water just waits. It wears down the clifftops, the mountains,the whole world. Water always wins." -Dr. Who, Waters of Mars trailer, from BBC One.
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