Michelle’s Blog

Where art and life are interchangeable…

(Click on the excerpts for the full blog post)

Lone Wolf – There’s a Story in His Eyes…

I have wanted to do this painting for so long. Wolves are one of my favourite animals, and before I knew better, I used to dream of having an encounter with a pack. I fancied this idea that I would become a wildlife biologist or a photographer in the Yukon, but the closest I came to that was to own a white German Shepherd dog and name him Yukon.
Lakeside Trail

Autumn. It’s short but it was incredibly sweet this year in Muskoka! And I’ve been taking it all in, whatever I could get of it.

This is what happens when you feast with your eyes… What goes in must come out, and thankfully, I was feasting on beauty! I’ve been calling it “Lakeside Trail.” It’s an acrylic painting on a 36″ x 24″ canvas.
The Watcher

For Hallowe’en, here is a post that some will love and some will hate. My personal opinion is that it is creepy, so this is the perfect day for posting it. Enjoy!

The child was lying peaceful only a moment before I entered the room. Now, her brows creased, she pulls the blankets up to her neck, gripping them with tight fists. Rolling into a fetal position, she does not awaken, for she is a prisoner in the dream she is having. As always, it repeats from the beginning, since the first time it played in her subconscious mind. There is blackness and a far away, steady hammering. Then, shapes begin to emerge out of the blackness as she cautiously moves toward the cacophony. Maybe they are being revealed to her, as if a veil is removed, but by whom, and for what purpose? …
Dive into Diversity (Awareness & Acceptance)

I am about to share a story I have written. It’s a message about “acceptance.”

October is Autism Awareness Month in Canada.
I wrote this story because “Awareness” is still needed, but “Acceptance” is needed even more.
* * *
“I’m not missing any pieces.
Nor am I a puzzle, as some might say. I’m one colourful piece of the big picture,
Fitting in a different way.”
The Evolution of My Work with Acrylic Skins

From pouring paint…

To finding uses for all those “leftover” bits…

To purposeful “fracturing” for a stained glass window effect (on canvas)…
Monarchs

You know you’ve met a nature lover when…

…You visit their house and as you approach their front door you notice some rather tired-looking, chewed-up milkWEED plants dominating the garden, where a much more beautiful specimen-plant should be. Yes, that’s my house. Well, until this week, that is, when the last generation of this year’s caterpillars finally had their fill. The ratty looking plants are now in the compost bin, and our Rose of Sharon is in full bloom, getting all the sunlight it desires.
Ability and “Dis”-Ability (Part Two)

The most difficult thing about SPD, over and above the crippling effects of the disorder/dysfunction, is how much I have to ask others to go without, just so that I can be involved in something with them. When they are willing to go to that extent for me, I am touched by their kindness and I’m incredibly grateful.
Ability and “Dis”-Ability (Part One)

What can I possibly know or say about this subject? I don’t look like I have a disability.
New Artwork: “Ruby”

As promised, I’m sharing a finished piece (finally) that I started back in February with intentions of entering it into the spring members’ show. My other two pieces took too much of my available time, I guess. This one is much smaller (8″ x 8″), but I wanted to do the subject justice, since I consider these creatures to be amongst the most awe-inspiring in their beauty and power, contained within such tiny bodies.

“Ruby” is the title of my latest painting of a ruby-throated hummingbird, which is hovering in front of a hibiscus flower and about to sip its fill of the flower’s nectar.
Like a Phoenix Rising from the Ashes

My “Phoenix Rising to New Life” painting is a very personal piece, as I’ve always felt like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Since the phoenix is mythological, I took the liberty of depicting a more peaceful bird to represent new life.
Meanwhile, its old body lies in death, which is represented by the rocks in the lower right corner of the painting. It is a human body, with female form, lying in the position which it fell in death. But it wasn’t all for nothing. There are already spring flowers bursting from the fertile ash in the crevices of the rock, indicating that we leave a legacy that helps others to learn from the past and look forward to a better future.