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.