Blue Coyote Says

Below are the words playing hide & seek on this 24 x 24" canvas. They came to me from mystery as I worked on my first large painting after a big cancer surgery, like a get-well card sent from coyote. A great reminder of how to be healthy. I played with the letters, with deep, rough texture, with splatters & wild color. Some people hate this painting. Some people love it. When it was hanging at Sebastopol Gallery, some people took one look & laughed out loud. I love those moments, & the happiness this crazy painting continues to bring.

coyote is the trickster

blue is the loyalty

blue coyote is loyal

to our need for humor

to take ourselves lightly

offer lightness & paradox

to our overburdened sisters

& brothers over & over

invite play as the cure

both internal & external

in meeting difficult challenges

which can open as an oyster

of opportunity & good

Changing Woman & Blue Coyote

One summer day I sat at my drawing table asking to paint an image of deep integrity. Imagine my surprise when this primitive & unexplainable watercolor emerged! I called it Changing Woman & Blue Coyote, & wondered who they might be.

This first image soon became a series. There are now about 20 of them, & they're still coming. They seem to illustrate a story, but what story? It's not my story.

The way I work is by opening in a focused way to what nature spirits might want me to paint. These pictures come from that source.

Imagine living in a world where everybody is respectful & in love with all forms of life. Reverent & excited by the cycles that make life possible. A world of ecological peace & happiness.

For a few months I puzzled over these paintings. I listened to amazing things people saw in them. Now I think the nature spirits are telling us a story of how we grope our way back to harmony. A story whose words are different for each person looking at them.

Always there’s a sense of challenge. Always there is help being given by ancient spirits, animal companions, and sometimes plants.

I'm no longer embarrassed by their cartoon-like character. This is way too serious a story to approach without humor. The playfulness is a gift.

I’m grateful.