ToCreate.Art.blog

I am the kind of painter (and cook) that seems to thrive under the philosophy of “a messy painter (cook) is a good painter (cook)”. I can paint one thing or a dozen, and all of a sudden I’ve got paint (new splotches) all over my clothes, the floor, my phone, the desk behind me, somehow on Bella (our dog)… I can’t just do a little touch-up – painting clothes or not – and walk away clean. Ever.

One day, not long before my latest spine surgery, I was putting final touches on some paintings that were waiting around for closure (i.e., I had some edges to paint in). I finished and was cleaning up my mess when a small colored spot on my leg caught my eye. It was purple, and I thought I might have bruised my leg somehow (also not out of the realm of possibility – I am a clutz, as well).

On closer inspection, I saw that it was just paint. A purple smear with a fine black streak.

Well, I really liked that paint splotch, so I took a picture. I can get inspired by the weirdest things, and this is no exception. I was going to think about that splotch and put it to good use.

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Ok, so here comes a backstory to a backstory…

When I was in elementary school, I didn’t dress as smartly as my classmates. I got a talkin-to one day about it (this was a small K-12 “village” school, and it wasn’t my first talkin-to) by one of the school’s teachers, I think.

Purple and yellow do not match, I was told. I remembered seeing a flower that was precisely purple and yellow, and it was beautiful. I mentioned this fact. And I also mentioned the fact that god had made this purple and yellow flower that was so beautiful. I didn’t really understand.

It didn’t matter. God made the flower like that (…for some reason or another, my child brain didn’t listen well, sometimes), but for wearing clothes to school, purple and yellow do not match.

Back to the present… For this splotch, I wanted to keep the same colors and abstract look of the butterfly on my leg (I still can’t believe what an awesome splotch that was), but it had to also involve yellow. I still think purple and yellow are beautiful together. Of course they are complementaries, they Belong together, naturally.

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So, to finalize my story, this is what I painted…

I didn’t think about having legs on my butterfly, but the black paint I used was so thin (from working on a previous project), it streaked down the canvas on its own. I was disappointed at first, but it really balanced the butterfly.

Naturally inspired by this butterfly, I painted its partner, right butterfly.

Here and here are both butterflies, Left Butterfly and Right Butterfly.

What a cute mess!

Thank you for reading.

Please note: this set of 2 paintings is for sale, watch for it in my shop – coming soon!

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