Paper Butterflies

 The last couple of weeks, I took a break from painting things to send to friends, but to just enjoy the act of painting and creating.  Butterflies, with their myriad of textures, colors and personalities have long fascinated me, and I wanted to return to creating them.  But this time I chose to do something a little bit more 3 dimensional, by painting paper wings and bodies and stacking them, almost like little paper sculptures.  I like the way that they came out, and will likely do some more.

These are done with gouache, and little bits of painted jewelry wire for the antennae.

I've Been Away, But Busy

 I looked recently at this blog, recognized the date of my last post, and felt a little sheepish for not having posted for a while.  October of last year was the most recent entry.  The length of time between posts, however, does not indicate the level of activity.  I have continued to paint, and have looked for people specifically that might have been struggling, and that might benefit from a little friendly piece of art sent to them by mail.  

Without going into a lot of detail, I'll post some of what I have created in the past few months.  You'll see a lot of birds, bread and butterflies, etc. (no surprise,  they are things that I love to paint!)

In thinking of friends that were undergoing some seriously challenging experiences, I painted some sparrows, reminding them that they are worth much more than sparrows (See Matthew 10:31).  Sometimes, amidst the trying circumstances that we face, it is comforting to be reminded of our worth, and how much we really have to be grateful for.  

These were done in gouache, and were in the "cut out" mode.  I've enjoyed, more and more lately, painting things and then cutting them out and doing a collage of various items:

 

For another amazing family, who I felt needed to be reminded of their infinite worth, despite facing challenges which would make anyone feel like a lowly reptile, I painted a frog, and a crown on opposite sides of paper. These also were done in gouache.

I had a family member who recently lost his father, and right during the Covid-19 challenges, which impeded him from participating in funeral services, and the normal closure that we have become accustom to. I modeled a stain glass window that I love from back in Europe and painted him this version of the Savior as the Creator.  His father was very interested and involved with the Cosmos, so I thought this might be welcome.  This is done in gouache with an acrylic background.

Finally, I have another family of friends who recently have been asked to go through some extremely challenging times with the birth of their newest addition to their family that needed surgery, and all of the attendant concerns and anxieties associated with that.  I painted them this bread and fish (again in the "cut out" mode) and sent it along to them as a reminder that the Lord will take our best efforts, even if they appear to be insignificant compared to the scope of the challenges we are facing, and He will magnify them, and make them enough.  These were done in gouache as well: