“The best times are when I feel the challenge to get closer and closer to the animals in my paintings. This allows me to enjoy painting all the details of the faces and the fur. Background details become more important and have to be painted accurately.
“The only way to get closer is for the artist to crop the image. This gives a real feeling of intimacy with the animal. Concentrating only on the animal gives the painting another dimension.
“I saw so many raccoons on my field trips in the United States and even in Europe (in the Bavarian Forest) that I really got to love them. All of my good feelings for this little creature are in this painting. It is also a small tribute to the feeling of partnership and togetherness, like two halves of a circle.
“I chose the title Yin and Yang for several reasons. Compositionally, the pose of the raccoons reminded me of the Chinese symbol, as did their black and white coloring. The concept of Yin and Yang also relates to the mutual dependence between the world of nature and human events, just as creatures such as these raccoons are dependent upon the actions of man for their survival.”
