What Life Lives Inside of You?

Painting detail (Netzach) Check out my gallery for the full picture.

Summer solstice

The longest day of the year is arriving and butterflies have filled my garden. I’ve seen zebras, sulphurs, gulf fritillaries, monarchs and most recently the peacocks.

As an artist I’m blown away by not only the patterns and colors but the interactions that take place in the garden with the butterflies. A garden spider has a web in the fly way of the butterflies. Their host plant, the wild petunia seems to reach up with blooms one after another. These peacocks seem to play hide and seek in and out of the bushes and then land on refreshing nectar filled flowers that grow low to the ground.

As I scan for the wings I see flowers, leaves, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and birds.

I’m drawn in by their life cycle and look for signs of eggs and chrysalids. These peacocks will lay many eggs on the underside of the leaves but I haven't seen any yet. I wonder how long they will live once they move through their stages.

All of these images contribute to the stories in my paintings.

This garden life is a part of me and I long to communicate with the wonder here. And, so, I paint.

Before I begin a create a drawing or a painting, I wait for glimpses of life, watching whatever interaction holds my attention and then I make my observations, sometimes with a drawing, sometimes with a poem or just a single word. All of that goes into my journal, an extension of my memories.

Those memories remind me of the life on that day and help me to reflect where it lives inside me now.

What life lives inside of you????