I’ve had a Kent Coffey piece in my possession for some time now. First, it sat at my friend Rena’s house due to space limitations at my own. Then, it lined a wall in my living room–squeezed next to other pieces–and finally, it now sits in my living room in its own special place. I’ve hesitated to anything with it for two reasons a) it’s a Kent Coffey and I really don’t want to ruin it! b) and I’ve not had a clear vision for it. My sister in law, Jess, at my house with some other friends some days ago, asked me what I was going to do with it.
Me: “I have no idea. I’m waiting for inspiration to strike.”
I’m often most inspired by natural materials–the flawless combinations of pattern, texture, and color found in nature–subtle and bold simultaneously. Several falls ago, while walking in the woods with my favorites I found this piece, a random branch really, but its colors, the delicate and varied lichens, resonated with my artistic soul and so came home with me. Again, due my cramped working conditions, it sat in my garden shed for nearly a year before I knew where it belonged.
Clearly, it belongs with Kent.
As an English major, who analyzed scads of poems and literary texts, I often discussed with fellow students the Muse, the one who provides an artist with inspiration and her often fickle nature. And I wondered, I really did, if the Muse would hold out on me. However, when I saw Jess at Thanksgiving, and she again asked if I knew what I wanted to do, thankfully I could say: “Yes!”
It involves stripper, a spray booth, a spray system, bare wood, a perfect gray, and gorgeous gloss, a la The Resplendent Crow. You’ll be seeing Kent soon, I promise.
Tootles,
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