Artist Statement
This book brings together and challenged my skills in things that I truly enjoy: noticing details, painting, illustrating, calligraphy, writing, and bookmaking. The inspiration for the book is a true story written after a trip to Texas to visit with dear cousins and to see the total solar eclipse in April 2024. It is about “A Chance Encounter” I had while there with a butterfly that is very common to the Southeastern US, but which I had never seen before, and information later learned about butterflies and this particular species. Nature never ceases to amaze and delight.
Materials & Technique
Papers & Board: Arches Textwove, Lanaquarelle & Arches watercolor, Hahnemuhle Ingres, and Crescent Ragmat. Media: Watercolor, Acrylic Ink, Colored Pencil, Graphite, Methyl Cellulose, Acrylic Matte Medium, PVA glue, and spray fixative. Binding: Linen thread. Papers were painted with watercolor and paste paper techniques in colors and patterns representing the wings of the butterfly. Calligraphy with pointed nib using acrylic ink. Illustration on Arches Textwove is in graphite and colored pencil, and on Arches and Lanaquarelle watercolor papers (both Cold Press 90#) with watercolor and colored pencil: a detail of pattern on a wing, a landscape, and detailed paintings of the butterfly.