Well-Worked

14H x 11W x 1.5"D, by Michelle Louis

14H x 11W x 1.5"D, by Michelle Louis

     This summer I worked the same two small paintings every time I needed a change of pace from the large canvases occupying most of my time. Scribbles, scratches, plops, and doodles, these stalwart diminutive paintings are acrylic, oil, ink, and graphite on hardboard, cradled on natural wood. It's odd, but finding retreat and refuge in their surface over many months, I've come to love them. These closing days of October, it feels their purpose has been met. I'm setting them aside now, to begin again.

What We Need Is Here
by Wendell Berry
Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye,
clear. What we need is here.