The significance of the blue butterfly in my latest painting goes back a long way.
When I was a young painter I always wanted to paint things that were what I wanted life to be like. I was not concerned with what I saw so much as what I did see with my eyes but what I saw with my heart.
I love those dreams and visions that come from another world. A world without boundaries or limits of what you can do.
The older I get the more I love these things not because I am not appreciative of reality , but because I know all reality was once an idea. The diaphanous place where all concrete things start. That is what I like to think about all the time. That is what the blue butterfly is to me. If you have ever seen a blue butterfly in nature then you were surprised I am sure . It almost is shocking to see one. A lovely surprise and wonder and beauty. Flitting by you on a breeze. Like an idea. A wonderful idea.
I am a Northwest artist who is fascinated by faces and people. I work with a brush drawing of a face or human figure. Then I apply ink, paint and gel in various layers to create rich colors and textures. Along the way my images are painted, scrubbed, rinsed off, then ink and paint are reapplied until the final image is finally revealed. The process of discovering who the figures will become keeps me "intrigued and absorbed."