MICHELLE LOUIS
  • Home
  • Meet Michelle
  • Recent Work
  • Contact/Shop
  • Blog

Early Fall Grasses

9/23/2016

 
Picture
Early Fall Grasses, 40"x 60" on canvas. ©Michelle Louis 2016
Facing a big, blank canvas I don't usually begin with a clear picture in my mind or sketchbook of a future painting. Walking in nature as part of my daily art practice cultivates a rich palette of movement, color, and form ready for my brush... I start painting. What it becomes emerges from the work and the paint and the moment. As the work progresses, the canvas suggests a place or experience that I clearly recognize and reinforce.
"My paintings are titled after they are finished. I paint from remembered landscapes
that I carry with me - and remembered feelings of them, which of course become transformed.
I could certainly never mirror nature. I would more like to paint what it leaves with me."
 
-Joan Mitchell
Picture
Fall Grasses. ©Michelle Louis 2016

The Old Farmstead at Halfway Prairie

9/2/2016

 
Halfway Prairie Wildlife Area is located across from the Indian Lake County Park segment of the Ice Age National Trail. For many decades, the abandoned structures were home to grazing cows. When driving by, I imagine its farming days and the calloused hands of early settlers placing foundation stones gathered from newly-opened prairie soil. Today this deserted farmstead is a recent addition to our public lands and a worthwhile  visit. The old stone buildings were somewhat thoughtlessly cleared of the trees that wove in and around, supporting the cracked and leaning ruins. I suspect they will not last long. Already, several sections have collapsed- a reminder that all things return to the earth. It's a beautiful and haunting landscape when the sun is low in the sky.
Picture
The old farmstead at Halfway Prairie Wildlife Area.
Paul Klee once said, "Art does not reproduce what we see; rather, it makes us see." My  interest lies in seeing and revealing simultaneous moment and eon, thought and action, order and entropy. I draw inspiration from nature, but also from artists such as Lee Krasner, Franz Kline, Joan Mitchell, and Grace Hartigan. I love Abstract Expressionism because it's big and physical. The materials speak- drip, dribble, scribble, scratch, slosh, dab, slash. On either side- creating it or viewing it-  one must step outside of self to a place of fearlessness.
Picture
Abandoned Farmstead, 42" x 42" on canvas. Michelle Louis©2016
Picture
Abandoned Farmstead #2, 42"x 42" on canvas. Michelle Louis©2016
    Shop Now

    Author

    Artist and naturalist Michelle Louis has a vigorous curiosity about the natural world. Her  energetic, investment-quality paintings bring balance and harmony
    from the natural world to you.

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016

    ©2023 Michelle Louis All rights reserved. Content and images are property of the artist.

    Categories
    art, nature, painting, artist, wisconsin, naturalist, hiking, walking, studio, blog

    All

    RSS Feed


  • Home
  • Meet Michelle
  • Recent Work
  • Contact/Shop
  • Blog