Artist Info

Best known for large, abstract landscapes, artist and naturalist Michelle Louis has exhibited in group and solo shows worldwide. Her work is held in private, corporate, and public collections in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to individual art collectors, she's sold work to designers and consultants worldwide for projects large and small.

The opportunity to live, work, and study in the tropics, from Mexico to the Bolivian Amazon, influences my perspective of life and abundance on Earth. At home in Wisconsin, walking in wild places is an integral part of my daily art practice. This cultivates a living palette ready for my brush.
Abstract expressionist in process, I work without a subject in mind, and not from drawings or sketches. Paint enters a swirl of color, pattern and form–synergetic marks–that become a record of personal experience. Each action nudges the next to document dynamic and emotional qualities of place while stimulating a sense of awareness and connection.
Revealing and honoring vestigial links and patterns in Nature acknowledges kinship to the natural world and begins to reconcile a ravaged Earth.

Trained in fine art, landscape architecture, and graphic design, Michelle Louis works full-time as a painter in Middleton, Wisconsin, USA. Her studio extends to her yard, where she nurtures an edible landscape.

In the News-
Read an interview with artist Michelle Louis at Arts Business Institute.
"Finding Inspiration from the Female Creative Eye," by Maile Hulihan.
Craftwhack blog on Michelle Louis and The Other Art Fair.

Artist and naturalist Michelle Louis leaves the trail to observe a colony of leaf cutter ants. Amazon Basin, Bolivia. Photo by Alex Bauch.

Using profits from the sale of her art, Michelle Louis purchases and coordinates donations of science and nature books in Spanish and assures their delivery to schools and community libraries in Latin America. Photo by Patricia Luchsinger.