Letting the Butterflies Go, painting

oil on panel

20" x 16"

One word to describe much of my work, especially this one, is "visceral". The palette and brushwork contribute to the feeling as well as the imagery of the butterflies making their way out of the gut. The emerging pale blue-violet butterfly contrasts with all the heat, giving the picture a bite like strong blue cheese. The picture is about the process of letting go, which is sometimes painful. The other versions of this image (done as a digital image and as an etching) are more about letting worries go, whereas this painting is about letting go of people, things, or ideas that have enough personal meaning that they feel a part of you. The butterflies in the background are like ghosts.

Loaves and Fishes (version 4)

digital image

My pastor asked if my image of the Loaves and Fishes could be used for the cover of our church bulletin this Sunday as it matched the gospel reading. I couldn't find a jpeg handy, so did this digital version anew on my tablet. I have two versions of the image done in oil and one in woodcut that was used for a church fundraiser. The digital will reproduce easily.

The painted versions of The Loaves and Fishes show more clearly that the two hands of Jesus rising from the ocean are of different races. Also the round, golden pita loaves double as halos. I like the simplified iconography, "x" composition, and strong forms emerging out of agitated, rhythmic water. Artists often return to the same subject and hands are one of my favorites.

Three New Prints for the Butterfly Book

etching and watercolor, 4" x 3" (Passing the Butterfly has oil pastel as well as chine colle - pasted paper that's then printed on)

Self-Portrait, Tailed Copper - The butterfly wing is simultaneously muscle and veil. It is tough, sinewy construction while lacy like a doily or garter. The butterfly's body is a stand-in for the figure's. The picture is both colorless and colorful. The background is atmospheric, a demure, hazy setting that does little to reveal the underpinnings of the figure. It is about dichotomies and the subtleties involved in gender and identity.

Passing the Butterfly - Two hands meet while the butterfly rests between. The limited vocabulary of shapes and lines in the hands and butterfly play off each other. The oil pastel gives a powdery feeling appropriate to a butterfly's wings. The crushed color reminds me of the chalk pastels of Odilon Redon. The wings are jewel-like while the surrounding space evokes wet grass, dim light, and rain.

Self-Portrait, Spring Azure is a metaphor for the interconnectedness of all things. This is shown by the cubist fractured space and figure and the golden chain of interlocking rings. The butterfly wing is a lens to see the world, instead of rose-colored glasses. The butterfly's symbol of renewal, doubly reinforced by the word "Spring" in its name, lends the viewer faith.

Butterfly Book

These two images are a part of my new project - the series of butterfly related prints that will be collected into a folio (with a total edition of 10 folios). So far I think I'm going to stick to etching as the medium. It is very versatile and I like the idea of the uniformity of the small rectangles.

The top image is another version of Intellect and Optimism Create Butterflies (after Goya) [see previous post]. I used two plates. The first plate was an aquatint printed in yellow. After it dried, I printed the second plate, a drypoint, to create the black lines on top of the yellow. Lastly, I hand-painted areas light yellow and white-yellow. I really like painting on prints, which is something that an artist who is strictly a printmaker and not a painter might not do. I think of all those manuscript illuminations from the Middle Ages and engravings that were hand-colored. It is more like planting flowers as opposed to oil painting, which is more like turning soil for me. The image makes me think of Paul Klee in its playfulness and handling of shape, line, and space.

The bottom image, Butterfly/Hands, is a drypoint. The visual vocabulary is pared down as the mass of the fingers relate to the area of the butterfly wings. Fingernails play off the markings on the butterfly. They also look like the wholes cut out of paper to make a snowflake. The combination of nature and feminine form relate to O'Keefe.

The National Gallery has great virtual tours of art, by the way.