Monarch on Milkweed

Here in Hampshire Illinois we are in the depths of winter. I had winter paintings in mind and was having some difficulty juggling my schedule of my day job, my class schedule (learning coding) and my art business as well as a busy social schedule for the holiday season. My mother suggested a painting of a Monarch butterfly. She’s getting a new Monarch license plate and I think that’s why it was on her mind.
Despite having many other priority things to work on I took a break to dive into this Summer painting. Last summer our neighbor planted Milkweed on the border of our 2 yards which brought a ton of bumblebees, butterflies and other happy little insects to the area. I took photos of them and delighted in their visits. We even had humming birds and other birds I’ve rarely seen arriving to investigate this plentiful plant. So I decided the Monarch painting should also celebrate the milkweed which is usually thought of as a weed (thus the name). The plant has a sticky white sap when its cut which is where the “Milk” part of the name comes from.

Please check out the video of me painting this beauty and the products featuring this design below.