Wonder Why this Picture Appeals to Me So Much

While visiting the Morris Graves’ art exhibition last weekend, I also picked up a book by Gaylen Hansen, an Eastern Washington artist. Since browsing through the book, I’ve been haunted by this particular image, "Three Wolves." It’s not the typical kind of artwork I’m attracted to, but there is something primitive and powerful about it.

Perhaps it has something to do with the unusual angle of the shot. Perhaps it’s the juxtaposition of the wolves, the moon and the triangle. The painting makes me uncomfortable. I like that. And that worries me, too.

I wonder if they’re waiting for me to fall? I wonder if this is what has been appearing in my dreams for the last four months and waking me up every night since my operation?

Strangely enough, I’m a big wolf fan and have donated money to programs that have tried to reintroduce them into the wild. So, why should they turn on me? Don’t know. And that haunts me, too. You think they’re ungrateful?

There’s so much more that I don’t know than I do know. Sometimes that haunts me, too. I wonder what Hansen knows that I don’t know? How could he know that this painting would haunt me?

You can find Gaylen Hansen stuff all over the web, though I don’t know why you would want to.

Linda Hodges Gallery in Seattle is having a show of his works, apparently.

Schneider Museum of Art has several paintings.