When a Smile Calls—Butterfly, Moth and Improvisation

My neighbor walks her dog frequently. She has also seen my unconventional use of natural materials and often leaves fallen bird nests in my mailbox. This week she left two large moths and a butterfly.

“They die after mating” she explained.

Nice way to go, I thought.

.. I had a hare skin that had a lot of character in shape and texture but I had not figured out a motif to start painting on that skin. The moths and the butterfly brought me back to my favorite pair of eyes that I can paint with the minimalism I like.

So, I started with just the look. Now the hare skin was looking at me as if asking “What are you going to decide next?”

Well, I like the concept of the veil. I have painted quite a few looks with a veil. I think it gives mystery with a few lines scratched in oil pain with my painting knife. And what is behind the veil is always what intrigues us. Actually I started my literary blog in 2013 with an entry titled “Behind the Veil” https://vahezen.blogspot.com/2013/06/behind-veil.html

Ok, next I gave that look a tomboyish haircut.

My initial idea was to use the butterfly en lieu of a scarf or a hat.

But it did not fit well. So, I used a squirrel tail arced to look like a fur hat. Now the butterfly looks better both as an extension of the hat and as a symbol of free floating.

Just like that smile. (No it is not Pygmalionism!!!)

It was time for some jewelry—I like to use turquoise stones so designed a simple shape of stringed stones and beads. But the wings of the moth were so much more appealing that I took partial wings and transformed them to earrings.

Now all the pieces had come together nicely. I sent a progress photo of the painting thanking her for the beauty the moth and butterfly added to the smile.

The framed work has a dual chromatic character – depending on the observer’s mood, I think it can be seen as a black and white painting. Or, a painting where colour is primarily in the wings.

Colour that seems ready to take off.

August 21, 2019

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2019