The Yip & Howl

Studio notes, stories, and things that refuse to stay quiet

Volume 5 • Issue 1

Somewhere Between Land & Sea

April 10, 2026

It feels like walking out of an old, dusty house and breathing fresh air for the first time in years.

I lost the drive before I even found it.

The Lead Howl

Bet you weren’t expecting things to change THIS much. Neither was I! I’ve got loads to tell you though! First and foremost, the big change: The move. I announced it almost a year ago and now I’m here in New Jersey with my kiddo and my mom not just living but actually thriving. Don’t get me wrong, I miss my wide open desert landscape with ravens, jacks, and ‘yotes, but we have all found a unique peace and happiness here we did not find there. Truth be told, it’s like walking out of an old dusty house and breathing fresh air for the first time in many years and I haven’t seen my mom or my kiddo as happy as they are. And there are so many things happening at any given moment (even at home) we never get bored!

Now the second big change…my website. It started small, simple. Trying to make it faster and update old images but in doing so I realized my site was giving off the wrong vibe. I tried to make it look like a business ran by multiple people where WE would help you and that there was an us when in all reality it is just me. I created the website, I write the posts, I create the art. The perspective needed to change but one of my favorite changes are my posts. Originally, I was leaning towards SEO. How can I optimize my space so it gets put in front of people searching for answers to questions? What questions should I answer? How should I answer them? Man, I lost the drive before I even had it. I live, I do things, many things. I have an awesome kiddo, mom, family. We go out amongst nature from the sandy beaches to the lush woods and I am surrounded by adventure both in home and in the wild more often than not. Trying to plan out the best way to attract visitors to read my posts AND write them isn’t something I’m excited about…until I changed to this type of writing. Newspapers cover many things all at once. Don’t like the main vibe? Check out the comics. Don’t like the humor? Check out one of the lil’ stories and I’ve got the attention span (and lifestyle) to cover a lot of different things. Obviously, they’ll mostly be art-related but how else am I going to get it in front of you wonderful folks? I won’t be delivering consistently, nope. I tried that. I failed. However what I will be delivering will have both the meat, potatoes, and a side of gravy so you know you’re not just getting one subject, you’re getting a bunch of things that you can pick and choose from. It’s very similar to how I handle my art because I cannot focus on one type for too long otherwise I get bored.

April marks 5 years of Painted Coyote Creations.

Studio Notes

By the time this issue is published it will be April which means it will be Painted Coyote Creations’ anniversary month! I have a ton of things planned for this month, or at least a couple weeks within it to celebrate the 5th anniversary of my art business! Some people take a week or a month to celebrate their own birthdays (good for you, by the way). I’ll take that and celebrate my hobby/side gig (that I hope t0 some day turn into either my main or one of my main sources of income).
Before I left Nevada, I had a decent supply of art pieces available. I have significantly less due to having to give away my ivory art as there is a total ban on any ivory within the state of New Jersey. That said, I am in favor of it as I understand the common misconception that ivory is solely acquired and the rest of the animal is left to rot. It makes it harder to sell art pieces utilizing the material even if that was not why it was acquired originally. With this all being said, I cannot sell at local fairs or events presently until I have enough of a collection of art pieces to make a difference. If I sell them quicker than I can keep them for events I am not complaining!
You may also have noticed I’ve been doing more sea-themed art. Don’t worry, my western roots have not been forgotten. I have a ton of ideas but I tend to lean into what calls the loudest and as of recent it has been beach-themed. In the works are carved skulls and drinking horns but they haven’t had an opportunity to get fully fleshed out due to a very busy schedule recently.

Echoes from the Trail

With the anniversary coming up I’m reminded a lot of what started everything and the influences early on in my art career. While I intend on leaving that for the next issue, it’s hard to suppress that wave of nostalgia that keeps coming up as I enjoy this anniversary month. Everything from my parents to the desert, and even far before that to when I was five years old enamored with my dad’s mountain man lifestyle continue to bubble up to the surface and remind me of my affections for the wild side that runs deep in my family.

Outside of that, however, this return to New Jersey is wreathed in its own nostalgic feel. Far before my desert roaming, I spent a great deal of time traversing the woods with my brother catching frogs and snakes, and enjoying nature (and all of its ticks). A lot of my childhood was spent in the woods and on the beaches and no matter where I was, I was immersed in nature. Not to mention much of my family I grew up with is still in New Jersey (and a few key people in my life whom I can no longer enjoy the company of). It’s crazy to be able to walk the boardwalk and remember when I walked it with my mom, my gramgram, and my brother during the day and at night. I spent years with my brother wandering Allaire State Park catching frogs and snakes and stopping by the bakery to grab cookies to munch on. The ghosts that live in Nevada screamed whereas in New Jersey, I have the gentle echoes of a time I can no longer go back to and I treasure both equally with the knowledge that I may not be able to enjoy the company of some any longer but I can give my son similar memories that he will treasure. Luckily, lil’ man has taken to this place like a fish who found water for the first time (this works if you don’t think too hard, I swear).

Between Land and Sea

This edition’s material discussion is the quahog shell! No, I haven’t discussed any materials before but this isn’t my first post either. Expect to see this section pop up occasionally. I work with a variety of different natural materials and the quahog shell has only showed up within the last couple of years (in my material list). It’s a beautifully colored shell with an awesome history. I love working with it because of it’s unique roots and gorgeous coloring but let me illuminate a bit more about it.

The quahog shell comes from the hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria), a species native to the eastern coast of North America. For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples—especially nations like the Wampanoag Tribe—used the thick, purple-and-white shells to create wampum, small beads that held deep cultural meaning. Wampum wasn’t just decorative; it was used in storytelling, ceremonies, and to record agreements between tribes.

Later, during early colonial times, European settlers began treating wampum as a form of currency, though this stripped away much of its original cultural significance. Today, quahog shells still carry that layered history if you know who to ask and where to look. They didn’t always serve as just a pretty shell on the beach to be collected.

If you want to read more about the quahog shell and get more information about the history it exists in, check out the links below:

Quahog

Jamestown’s History Can be Told Through the Quahog Shell

I wanted to carve a moment.

From the workbench

I’m sure you’ve seen it… That cup I’ve been tossing around social media like a proud parent. I love animals. And one of those animals that I really enjoy carving is a horseshoe crab. Well that coconut cup was an easy pick for me to carve but it was also another way to challenge myself. I didn’t just want to carve a horseshoe crab. I wanted an action carving, a live setup. So I carved “Timeless”. Two horseshoe crabs at the beach, one in the water, one heading towards it. I’d never carved water before either and I wanted both the beach and the water to stand out from each other. Rather than going for a smooth finish for everything I left the original fibrous exterior of the coconut for the beach (don’t worry, all the loose fibers have worn off from a ton of handling) and a smooth polished look for the ocean. Why is it titled “Timeless”? Horseshoe crabs are living fossils, more closely related to arachnids than crustaceans. They have stood the test of time and have survived years upon years without substantially evolving their appearance.

In addition to that, this is the very first drinkware art piece that uses an all natural foodsafe sealer. I love the shine resin can provide as well as the fact that it can extend the lifespan of an art piece. It creates a more protective barrier and some are foodgrade and food safe. That said, this coconut cup uses Walrus oil wood wax instead of resin which contains coconut oil, beeswax, and mineral oil. A significantly more natural direction that achieves a beautiful shine on the coconut cups and adds a protective layer to prolong the longevity of the art piece. Besides using only natural ingredients, wood wax needs to be occasionally re-applied which is often a trade off for using a natural sealer but I intend to use it on art pieces as often as possible. I’d rather do less harm than more harm to the environment when I can.

Good Howls

Make the change that scares you the most. Nothing worthwhile in this short life of ours is meant to be easy.
Bones tell stories too. Look for unnatural lines, holes, or even extra teeth. You may learn more about the original owner than you expected.
The desert can be very quiet while the beach is never quiet.

The Trail Ahead

The biggest upcoming event I have planned is the 5th anniversary of PCC. You may be wondering what exactly will be involved. Well, I will be hosting my first every giveaway(s). While every art piece is one of a kind, that doesn’t mean I cannot recreate older pieces. Anything involved in the 5th anniversary though will have “5 Years” on it and therefore will not be recreated. Below is a list of what you should expect to see in celebration of having been creating professionally/in business for five years:

Two giveaways
Limited edition “5 Years” merch signed by the artist (it’s me, I’m the artist)
One revisited art piece held near and dear to my heart
Videos and posts debuting limited merch and telling the stories of PCC
Biggest highlights of the last 5 years

Spotted in the Wild

Pinned

Snake Peterpick Baculum

$52.00
Add to cart

Pinned to the Corkboard

Just a reminder, the 5th anniversary of Painted Coyote Creations is coming within the next month (or this month if it’s already April).

Presently, I do not have the stock needed to have a presence at any fairs or events but below are places I would love to sell at in the future.

Allaire’s Craft Fair (maybe even the harvest festival one)
NY Ren Faire and NJ Ren Faire
Moonlight Oddities Market in NJ
Local county fairs

FOLLOW THE COYOTE

Meet the Author

“Honestly, for any one person there’s too much to say that a tiny biography can cover. I’m an artist, a parent, a child, a hiker, a gamer, so much. I love nature in all of it’s unrelenting beauty, and I absolutely love being able to throw myself into the fray when it comes to running my business. I don’t let the phrase ‘I don’t know’ rule my life. In fact, it’s a challenge that I make sure I face head on and therefore I’ve become a jack of all trades who isn’t prepared to stop learning.”