Among the things that keep life interesting for me are creating and learning - even better when they overlap.
This piece is a case in point. I've wanted to get into wood or lino cut printmaking for a while (but I'm me so it just takes a while) so I’m the interim I decided play with the style by way of black paper and white pen. Clearly it's not the same thing but some of the creative thought processes are similar.
Anyhow, I really liked how elemental this style felt and how well the black and white depicted the night and winter scenes we are so familiar with around here. That lead to thinking about nocturnal and crepuscular animals and THAT lead to me remembering about a thing called a coywolf- a mostly coyote wolf/coyote hybrid. Um, what? Sounds like a mythical creature doesn't it? Apparently they might be a real thing (I'll be hunting for one for the rest of my life even if they aren't!). But there is a chance I've already seen one.
Years ago while xc skiing way back in the forest (probably working through a hangover), on one of those euphorically beautiful sunny winter days when all the animals come out to play a buddy and I came across an enormous canine sitting on mound on a frozen lake. I mean the thing was huge (much bigger than any coyote I've seen) and it was NOT intimidated by us at all. After a while it gazed in our direction locked eyes and eventually wandered off (on the same day we also saw two fox - maybe the same one twice). Anyhow, ever since we've speculated about whether it could have been a wolf knowing full well how unlikely that would be based on where we saw it. But until recently I didn't know about the possibility of a coywolf....
As time passes and the legend of that day grows in my mind adding a mythical character to the storyline seems right.