Mayflies

Mayflies 12"x16"

This is one of my new paintings I made this spring. One of the advantages of raising a very curious little boy has been that I was able to educate myself on many topics I would have never spent time with otherwise. We went through a very informative dinosaur phase, as well as reptiles and insects. In all honestly this painting began as an experiment with new ways to create texture with Wood Icing paste and copper metallic flakes. It was fun creative play that lead me to making this painting, but when I was trying to title it, the first thing that came to my mind was Mayflies. I remembered learning that Mayflies lay their eggs on the surface of water, the eggs sink down to the bottom where the larvae live for a long time (like years) and then they eventually develop into a fly and somehow come to the surface of the water. They only live a few more hours or days to lay eggs and then they die. I suppose that seems sad, but if you really think about it, it is a beautiful thing; the idea that they get to live their last moments flying around completely free.

Something else that is cool is that this painting is one of eight new paintings of mine that will be at Chesterfield Arts for the Endless Summer exhibit and Nicole put this on the front of the post card in between artists Terri Shay and Dana Diaz de Leon. The reception is Friday, July 20th from 6-8.