ElleCoyote Symbolic Paintings

"Persephone", 36x60", acrylic on canvas. My experience of being married very young is here symbolized by the myth of Persephone, who dwelt in the underworld, a captive of Hades, until her mother negotiated to have her released half of each year. Persephone ate a pomegranate seed while visiting the underworld, and that mistake caused her imprisonment. The 3-headed dog Cerberus guards the underworld, but lets her pass at the beginning of spring and fall.  

"Robyn With Bird", 11x14" (?), acrylic on canvas, is a portrait of my sister Robyn, based on a photo she sent me in an email. I added the patterns and bird.  

"Leila's Rainforest" was commissioned by my granddaughter Leila. I used reference photos to create a fantasy rainforest. 40x30" acrylic on canvas.

My granddaughter Jasmine commissioned a surreal painting, and this is what I came up with. You can see the cosmos behind everything.

Small painting (9x12"?), acrylic on paper. Based on a vision of how the goddess of creation creates all creatures, whether or not we like them or fear them.  

 "Crazy Clown", 11x14", mixed media on cradled wood panel. Photo manipulated in Photoshop, combined with Japanese silk, acrylic paint, and glass beads. This is one of the self-portraits I did making faces in the Photo Booth app on my Mac.  "Crazy Clown"

"Orpheus", 24x32", acrylic on canvas, is from a dream, where Orpheus is on a pier with his bus, waiting to take me somewhere ...  

"Meditation", 11x14", mixed media on cradled wood panel. Photo manipulated in Photoshop, combined with Japanese silk, acrylic paint, and glass beads. This is one of the self-portraits I did making faces in the Photo Booth app on my Mac.  "Meditation"

 "Joker", 8x10", mixed media on cradled wood panel. Photo manipulated in Photoshop, combined with Japanese silk, acrylic paint, and glass beads. This is one of the self-portraits I did making faces in the Photo Booth app on my Mac.  "Joker"

"The Yellow Glasses", 10x8", mixed media on cradled wood panel. Photo manipulated in Photoshop, combined with Japanese silk, acrylic paint, and glass beads. This is one of the self-portraits I did making faces in the Photo Booth app on my Mac.  "The Yellow Glasses"  

"Lost and Gone", 11x14", mixed media on cradled wood panel. Photos manipulated in Photoshop, combined with Japanese silk, acrylic paint, and glass beads.After decades of no one I knew dying, seven deaths in as many years. Memories fade and shimmer.  "Lost and Gone"  

 "Mom With X-Ray Eyes", 11x14", mixed media on cradled wood panel. Family photos manipulated in Photoshop, combined with Japanese silk, acrylic paint, and glass beads. "Mom with X-Ray Eyes"

 "Kali" 11x14", mixed media on wood panel. Photo manipulated in Photoshop, combined with Japanese silk, acrylic paint, and glass beads.This is one of the self-portraits I did making faces in the Photo Booth app on my Mac.  "Kali"

"Dad", 8x6", mixed media on wood panel. From a photo by B. Berres. "Dad"  

"The Man With the Orange Face", 2015, acrylic on canvas, 60x36". A dream image that combined a drunken man with an orange face, laughing and falling down as he followed me away from a carnival. I have two creatures on my body that resemble the mechanical crawfish in The Matrix; I am trying to keep them from entering my body.

 "To Make Gold, You Must Take Gold", 24x30", mixed media on canvas, is a symbolic portrait of my sister Robyn, who sent me a photo of herself eating. The alchemical maxim "To Make Gold, You Must Take Gold" means that the gold of enlightenment is taken into the body via air, water and food.

"Mother and Child"8x10", mixed media on wood panel, is based on a dream of  mine, in which a mother and child are swimming together.

"Osprey's Last Selfie", mixed media on wood panel, 8x8", is a symbolic portrait of my friend Vivian Kendall, aka Osprey. She suffered a lot in her last few years on this planet, but maintained her playful humor until her death. I printed out her self-portrait and added extruded paint and beads.  

 "Laura / Flora, mixed media on wood panel, 6x8x1", is based on a dream, in which a voice told me to paint Laura as Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers and therefore of springtime. She is a merry soul and a very talented singer and artist.

"Patrick" is a symbolic portrait of my son Patrick, who loves to draw horses. He is a gentle soul in a very muscular body. He has a forgiving heart.

"Steve's Ba", mixed media on wood panel, 11x14", is a symbolic portrait of my son Steve, who died in 2006. The ba is a word in ancient Egyptian, showing the soul as a bird, to signify its mobility. The bluejay is a bird that visited me after his death.

"Christina", 14x11", mixed media on wood panel, is a symbolic portrait of my fellow yoga student Christina, who gave off the most wonderful vibrations.  The spirals are extruded acrylic paint.

"Betsy  Kundalini" is a symbolic portrait of my sister Betsy. She lives in the Pacific Northwest and has done spiritual work for many decades.   

"Osprey's Ascension, 42x72x1.5", mixed media on canvas, 2014. "Tiny Osprey's Ascension" is 6x6, mixed media on wood panel.  My good friend Osprey, aka Vivian Kendall, was living on a lake in Washington state, near Olympia when she died in 2013. This is my tribute to her. She was a decent, caring, extremely intelligent and creative person. She was called Osprey in Second Life, and each year she would put on a moth costume for her anniversary of joining Second Life. May peace and joy bring her back to incarnation in a life that fulfills her. "Osprey's Ascension" "Tiny Osprey's Ascension"

"Constance Garudasana", 60x36", mixed media on canvas, is a symbolic portrait of my friend and yoga teacher, Constance. She is posing in the yoga pose Garudasana, which refers to Garuda, the eagle that is the mount of Vishnu. The twisting arms and legs made me think of Kundalini, and Garuda is also known as the eater of serpents, so I put a serpent in the painting as well. "Tiny Garudasana" is 8x6", mixed media on wood panel. "Constance Garudasana" "Tiny Garudasana"