Passing the Butterfly

oil on panel, 24" x 18"

I'm sneaking another post in this week.

This candy colored painting started by covering the surface with dots. I was mindful of the delivery of each dot, like a violinist plucking individual strings. I also thought of Andrew Forge, whom I was fortunate to have critique my work in graduate school at U. Penn. I thought of him because of the picture's pointillist beginning and because of its meaning. "Passing the butterfly" is like passing the torch or the bar in a relay race. It is about inspiring one another and striving. Andrew Forge was a painter, art historian, and head of the MFA program at Yale for many years. He had a combination of brilliance, integrity, and humility that made every word he said precious. Even though I have only spent a handful of hours in his company, his life and work exemplified what an artist, a person can be when they live to their full potential.

There are many people who have helped me, and as I get older I am more willing to accept help. The butterfly is precious, unique, and vulnerable in its fragility, as are we as we extend ourselves and accept a hand from others. The lyrical colors reflect the content. The surrounding space shifts in this precarious transaction.