WOLVES, FOXES AND OTHER DOGS

For painters as for composers, a good idea is rarely exhausted with one treatment, and Coheleach frequently paints variations on one theme, exploring it in different ways. This painting is a good example: He painted a miniature first, followed by 'Foxfire', which was printed by Mill Pond in 1992, and then 'Foxfire II' which was in The Society of Animal Artists 1993 Exhibition. In this case, trying different approaches was enjoyable for Coheleach because of the subject matter. "I love painting snow and I love painting foxes in the snow, because they always provide a highlight that really warms up a cold winter painting. If I have a good idea and it works, I have no problem reworking it a number of times, exploring different approaches. Generally, the idea for going further than just one painting is that frequently I'm torn - should I do it this way, or that way? - So I finally I do it both ways just to see which is better. Very often, they are both good."