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A Butterfly for Bubba

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A Butterfly for Bubba

It’s at the framers now, so I can’t fret over details anymore. But, for my first attempt at a butterfly, I am pretty well satisfied.

Most years I try to do a little watercolor for Ann on her birthday. This is her 2012 birthday card.

Last spring I purchased a new palette from CJAS. Then the palette arrived the package included a package of wildflower seeds. I gave the seeds to Ann and didn’t give the wildflowers another thought until they began to bloom and bloom and bloom! There was a terrific variety of wildflowers that bloomed thru the spring and summer. In fact, in mid-October, there are still yellow and orange wildflowers blooming along the south side of our house.

Then one day in early spring Ann came into the studio and said, “you ought to see the butterflies on the wildflowers!” There must have been a dozen or more. If I was a lepidopterist I suppose I could tell you the names of the several varieties of butterflies that were feasting on our free wildflowers. I can only tell you that they were all beautiful in different ways. But the shining blue highlights o the lower wings (that’s right, butterflies have four wings!) caught my eye and my imagination.

I’ve since learned that butterflies began to evolve about 200 million years ago. The first flying insects began to appear in the fossil record about 400 million years ago. You’ve got to admit that butterflies are flying insects that it’s easy to love and appreciate. I very much love and appreciate my wife, who I refer to affectionately as “Miss Bubba”, so painting a little butterfly for her birthday was a “no-brainer”.