Colleen R. Cotey, SAA
Cotey is an Award Winning, International Artist and Signature Member of the Society
of Animal Artists. Cotey’s works are held in private collections throughout England,
Ireland, Mexico and the United States. Public works include a life-size wolf pack
of six wolves and one raven at Wolf Haven International in Tenino, WA
Colleen R. Cotey began her practice at an early age. Raised in rural Western Washington,
Cotey was surrounded by a wealth of wildlife, domestic animals and livestock. The
Artist contributes her keen skills in observation to time spent out of doors, visually
investigating a multitude of animals and studying all of their beautiful and unique
subtleties including body language, social structure, vocabulary, habitat and diet.
As a child, Cotey’s love of creating animal art influenced her family to enroll
her in the Olympia Waldorf School. During her ten years as a pupil, she was instructed
by skilled artisans and master craftsmen who provided the young artist with a solid
foundation of basic skills in a multiplicity of two and three dimensional artistic
mediums. Formal education includes a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the Evergreen
State College, 2011.
Today, Colleen R. Cotey resides in Olympia, Washington with her husband, horses,
dog and cat.
I will never tire of the complexity found in portraying the animal subject. I am
enthralled by the polarity of nature, the predator and the prey, wild creatures
and their domestic decedents. My art is created in an attempt to remind others of
the animals with whom we share this planet. I believe the themes I explore, in regards
to wildlife, are centered in respect - not making the animal into more or less of
what it is. The creature in itself is enough.