Cary Slatery, inspired by prints of Damien Hirst's butterfly "paintings," commissioned me to paint this piece in 2005.  Disclaimer: I did not use real butterflies...just painted from great photos in butterfly guidebooks and added shadows to heighten the sense of reality.  Click on the image for a larger version and look for the glow-in-the-dark firefly (a special request of the client).

Since the August 2012 I have been painting more or less once a week with a small group of plein air painters, most of them working in oils. After a very cold morning painting in Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, I continued around the loop road taking photos. This postcard-sized painting was the result of one of those photos. White mat and mahogany-colored frame for a framed size of 10 5/8"x 12 5/8".