Hidden Secrets

“My paintings are private moments with the untamed, an intimate moment with the elusive side of the wilderness,” relates Bonnie Marris. “If connections between two people begin with the eyes, I think that when you are introducing people to wildlife, you should begin in the same way, with the eyes. “There is a line in a song by Cheryl Wheeler. ‘. . . they hear voices older than time.’ It’s part of the aura around wolves. When you look into their eyes they seem to see so much farther and know so much more than we do. People have come up to me at shows and tell me that they’ve felt it was the first time they’ve connected with a wolf. I get so excited when I hear that. “I think about our history with wolves and how much, throughout history, we feared them. It seems we are now attempting to understand them rather than fear them. Wolves are so secretive. It’s taken a long time to realize that they share many traits with us. If you think about how family oriented the pack is, it’s amazing. Family is family and we share that social nature. “We are so busy and so rushed, a painting is a way to stop and spend a few moments discovering something new about the world in which we live. In the end, it gives us the chance to discover something new about ourselves as well.”