Have you ever heard of a butterfly kiss*?.

My mum always used to give them to my siblings and I. They were the best. They tickled slightly, as though a butterfly’s wing was lightly brushing your cheek. The happiness in this boy’s face perfectly represents how a butterfly kiss made me feel as a five year old. My painting is about butterfly kisses, but more than that it is about a mother’s love. You see her affection shining out through his smile, in the way he wraps his arms around himself and his tightly closed eyes.

*Butterfly kiss: the act or an instance of fluttering one’s eyelashes against another person’s skin.

Photographer unknown

In many of my paintings I use a reference image for inspiration, then modify, adding flora and fauna to create the emotions I hope to convey.