Dawn, Dusk, & Michelangelo

"Dusk," by Michelle Louis.

"Dawn," by Michelle Louis.

     The angle of light, the intensity of color, even the feel of the air goes from cottony-thick to crisp as the natural world prepares for winter here in the north. My recent paintings dive into light, color, and the flow of time as we move through seasonal change.
     Influenced by that time of day just as the sun has set but before the stars are revealed in the night sky, "Dusk" quietly revealed itself over many weeks and layers of color. When it was done I immediately started work on another canvas. It was developing a similar feel but with a distinctive palette that included lots more whites. I recognized the luminous quality of the early morning sunlight from  the hikes I hustle to get in before the harsh glare and heat of day.
     As I worked the surface of the second painting with planes of transparent color and subtle figurative references, the work of Michelangelo began looping in my brain, focusing on his exquisite allegorical figures in the Medici Chapel and mausoleum in Florence that I visited decades ago. To me, his monumental "Dawn" and "Dusk"—along with "Day" and "Night"—epitomize the awareness that nothing in life stays the same. They are the essence of the symbolic transition from substance to spirit.
     Comparing my paintings to Michelangelo's work would be laughable, but it is somehow okay with me that I named the second painting, "Dawn."
     And so I present to you my own "Dawn" and "Dusk." I hope Michelangelo, in his own exquisite marble tomb at the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, is not offended :)     
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