Crickyn

The last thing I expected to see after working on this expressive painting was a beetle, but there was the definite body shape and plates, wings, little pointy head. When i charcoaled in the legs I knew she was a lightning bug, as we call them in the south, so I dotted the orange-y yellow paint around the body to represent the etheric light. Many an evening was spent with my sister chasing, catching, admiring and releasing (unharmed) some of the hundreds of fireflies alive in the 1960’s summer evenings. Sadly, it is a commentary on the decline in the natural environment that many previously lightning bug laden locales no longer support these insects and they have become a rarity to spot. A real shame and frightening on many levels. The simple joys of lightning bug spotting should be a birthright to earth’s children everywhere. This painting was worked entirely with my fingers with paint, mixing it directly on the canvas in many layers and then drawing in legs with charcoal. The pleasure of making an expressive drawing is to allow that which is there to move forward and to accept it and cherish it for what it is.