Monarch Butterfly

CHRISTMAS CACTUS: original by Jennifer Richter (July 2011, acrylic on board, 8X8):
Contact: jen.richter@gmail.com

• My mother, Mary Adams and my sisters Emily Voisin and Becky Lewis were in town for our Grandpa Adams' 90th birthday celebration/reunion. My mother and I set up a time to paint as a group (you can see their Christmas Cactus paintings on their link). I printed off a color photo of the original Christmas Cactus owned by my Grandmother Odette Allen. It has become symbolic to our family of the idea of ETERNAL FAMILIES and LOVE.
• MONARCH BUTTERFLIES-As far as I can remember my mother has always and often sung the song of the "Golden Butterfly Tree" to us children. The lyrics say, "If you should ever catch a butterfly, with wings of gold, so I've been told, love and happiness will come your way, that very day, that's what they say. But if you find a tree full of butterflies, all golden butterflies, your love will multiply. And happiness will last an eternity. If you find that butterfly tree..." So, the golden butterfly symbolizes love, happiness, and eternity; all things we believe in, hope for, and work for with our families.
• THINGS I LEARNED DOING THIS PAINTING:

1. Use thick body white paint for the dots on the butterfly wings to be opaque and to be able to lay it down once, for fine detail control (thanks, Cherilyn!)
2. Composition-added a leaf in a different direction to lead the eye back into the painting (thanks again, Cherilyn!)
3. Add a hatching layer around the edges with complementary color (purple and burnt umber) with an acrylic glaze to add richness and texture (Cherilyn had me look at Rebecca Lee's paintings there at Lamplight Gallery and suggested that I could look at what other ideas artists are doing and learn from them).
4. My teacher, Cherilyn Fischer, at Lamplight Art Gallery also taught me the wonders of Acrylic Gloss medium, how I could add a little pigment and layer colors one on top of another to achieve a rich, delicate, transparent effect with the wings (Cherilyn, you are the bomb!).