This is an oil painting of a speckled wood butterfly. It is a butterfly that is native here in the Netherlands, and is called “bont zandoogje”, which translates loosely to “colorful sand eye”. And indeed, this one I spotted on a bright sunny day sitting in the sand. Normally, these butterflies are quite modestly colored. However, in the bright summer light it appeared much warmer and vibrantly colored than usual.
Of course, the butterfly would fly away, so I took a picture to be able to look at it again. In the weeks after, I then painted it in multiple layers. For example, the tiny hairs on the body of the butterfly, and also the powder on the wings, took several layers of transparent paint, but also the addition of marble dust helped to bring forward the fragile sensation of the wings. For the colors, I went with warm, earthy colors ranging from red-brown, to a soft subtle mint-green and Indian yellow.
This has always been one of my favorite paintings. And curiously, around two years after painting it, when I got my own painting studio, while cleaning the space and getting it ready to use, what do you think I found? On top of the air conditioner was a dead speckled wood butterfly. There was no logic to it being there, but it felt like a good sign, and made me feel like I was at the right place. So, the butterfly is still here in the studio.
Around the same period I also painted a six-spot burnet another more brightly colored butterfly. You can find that painting over here.
