(No, not the Royal Canadian Mounted Police!)
25″ x 25″ Acrylic on canvas
The metallic background on these wild animal saints reminds us that they now exist in our two-legged world, that whatever wild is left is because we have chosen to leave it wild. The baby names (such as St. Bunny & St. Mountie are chosen to call attention to the cutification (or Disneyfication) of nature and the wild in particular.
We forget that wild nature is a violent ruthless realm in addition to being a realm of surpassing beauty, sometimes deep gentleness as well as spiritual connection. But in distancing ourselves from the reality of the untamed world we cut ourselves off from the true nature of the planet we live on, as well as our own true nature.
So these paintings are not meant to lift animals up to some exalted level, but to remember that their lives and their very natures, whether ruthless carnivores or gentle plant eaters are to be treated with the utmost respect and reverence. And in so doing we will find a truer way to exist in the world for ourselves.
Spyder Webb Fine Art 