Mixed Media on wood, ready to hang.

Signed on the back.

“Just living is not enough,” said the Butterfly, “one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower.” Hans Christian Andersen

A while ago, a female Papilio Aegeus landed on our garden lawn and I was so struck by its dramatic beauty that I knew I’d have to try to capture her in a painting (and it is a she as I learned that female and male Swallowtails look very different. The wing markings are absolutely distinctive, especially in the crimson and blue markings on the hind wings).

I’m drawn to butterflies partly because of their obvious stunning colours and markings. When we see them, it’s easy to take it for granted that they flitter around us at certain times of the year, landing on flowers and moving on. But many butterfly species are in danger of being extinct in every part of the globe. It may not seem important, but their role in biodiversity is paramount. Flowering plants are linked to butterflies and vice versa. Specific butterflies feed on the nectar of specific flowers, then pollinate other plants. Birds feed on the butterflies. Other animals feed on the caterpillars.

This painting tries to emulate a resting butterfly’s iridescent wings by using a fibre textured ground. The underpainting is blue to deepen the black wings and is layers with hand-painted rice paper on which the above quote is written. The body of the butterfly is stencilled with gears representing a circular cycle of the insect in nature. One wing is purposely “cut-off” as seeing a static butterfly in nature is a fleeting experience. The sides are painted black. The painting is sealed and varnished.