Coyote In Control

Coyote In Control
oil on cradled wood panel
12 x 24 x 1.5 inches
This item is unframed but ready to hang.

Coyote In Control

Buy the art

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​John F. Kennedy
New York City
 I saw him across the lobby
flight 161
St. Louis
Albuquerque.

Coyote looked in control
cool
fitting right into the city
smiling when a pretty woman passed him
figuring out his flight
making calculations from behind
the New York Times.

Slick
right down to his Tony Lamas
Coyote
 I’d recognize him anywhere
Copenhagen
New York
Gallup.

People say
you can dress ’em up
but once a coyote
always a coyote.
- NORA NARANJO-MORSE

Oh oh OH! Here I am, looking for the words to partner with the art, coming across Naranjo-Morse's poem, trying to sift for a few lines that fit and NO! I must post the entire thing beccause THIS! What she did with the words, the story, the attitude, the COYOTE-NESS simply could not be sifted, shortened or abbreviated. 

And it makes a very good point - so much of art is about words. Words to describe process and inspiration, words to illucidate themes and meaning, words to point the viewer toward a more full, immersive art experience.

In the process of painting, I spend an equal amount of time with paint and with pen (or laptop). Poems and quotes scribbled and copied, authors and poets, researched and read, trains of thought written down in a hurry before they become fireflies in summer and flit away, taking their illumination with them.

Naranjo-Morse influenced my thoughts about my own painting when I came across her poem. This coyote? He's a slick city guy. Hanging out with house cats, wary of cars and security lights. Does he read the New York Times? Maybe?

I'd love to hear what relationship words have with art in your world. Do words make art come alive? Or does art describe something words cannot? Leave a comment!

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​About the art: beginning with a gesso'd piece of cradled wood panel, I roughed in the basic figure shapes and painted the background from the outside-in to refine the form.  I added the first layer of darks to grab the shadow sections. Using a small flat brush I worked on the geometry of  the coyote's coat, then the cat's shading. A long drying time. Special attention and a small brush for the faces. Another layer of darks, then carving back in with a rubber wedge on the coyote's chest and neck. Layers of background paint and carving back through that wet paint with a large rubber wedge to create movement. Finally, whiskers!

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​Watch and listen on YouTube!

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​Bonus malarkey!