I am a news junkie, so I was fully aware that Russia’s military had surrounded Ukraine. Yet, I was still alarmed and upset to actually hear the bombs and witness the explosions on cable TV. I was working on my new spring series, and I titled the above image, Tulips Within. This referred to the tulips encircled by a line drawing of a tulip. Later I changed the name to, Tulips Within/ Flowers for Ukraine. Like the tulips contained by the digital lines, the Ukrainians are also surrounded.
After February 24th, 2022, I had to express my feelings about the war using the theme of flowers differently. With the help of silhouetted honeysuckle flowers overlaid on the colors of the Ukrainian flag, I tried to portray the chaos and disarray. I borrowed the title from Pete Seeger’s 1955 classic anti-war folk song Where Have All the Flowers Gone? In the 1960s and beyond, it was recorded by The Kingston Trio, Peter Paul and Mary, and others. Unfortunately, this song never seems to lose its relevance.
Where Have All the Flowers Gone, songwriter Pete Seeger, recorded by The Kingston Trio
Before we face colder weather, I would like to recall last summer by describing this new digital collage. I was inspired one July evening by a multitude of beautiful lights among the flowers. Not only were the patterns intriguing, but I have also since learned that these flashes function as the insects’ mating language. How could I portray these fireflies’ dancing lights in an art form, I wondered? Well, first I took several photographs of hosta flowers. Then, almost by accident, the line-work in my digital painting morphed into an image resembling lights in motion. Therefore, I was satisfied that I had captured this magical scene.
Summer Exhibition at Envision Gallery
The gallery was searching for work that embodied the essence of summer.
I am honored to have been selected for Envision Arts online gallery, based in Dallas, Texas, titled Summer II. One of my chosen works is featured above. The gallery was searching for work that embodied the essence of summer, be it subject matter, color, or feeling. It’s a contemporary show, with artists from various US states and Moscow, Russia, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Barcelona, Spain. Although the exhibition went online in June 2021, you can view the show here in the gallery’s archive.
I am very pleased to be accepted into the online exhibition, Colour, July 15 – August 14, 2021, Tebbs Contemporary Art Gallery, London UK. My chosen works are pictured at the very top.
Check out the fast-paced video catalog of the many vivid artworks. I also had the opportunity to be interviewed for the exhibition on ZOOM. After a short talk about my work, guest viewers had some provocative questions for me. For example, one participant asked if I consciouslychose to retain my painterly style when I shifted from canvas to digital art. I answered that painting had certainly informed the digital work to come.
One good question from another participant was how I obtained my photographs, i.e., the internet? I answered no, I took them myself, as to avoid copy right conflicts. I have taken many photos of natural subjects close to home and others on travel overseas.
Continuing with this topic, I explained that some of the photographs, such as the seahorses, were posed close-ups. With Photoshop, I silhouetted the shapes and filled them with color. I expressed that one benefit of digital collage is that an artist can use a poignant shot in various places in different works.
Someone asked about my artistic path, and I described my journey from fine arts to graphic design and back again, noting that I had learned different things from both disciplines.
It was quite an interesting experience chatting with and answering questions of artists across the globe.
At the very top are my five works chosen for the exhibition at Tebbs Contemporary Art Gallery. Clockwise: Australian Fires, Shelter in Place, Colorful Seahorses, Kangaroo Escape, I Can’t Breathe.
(c) Betty Butler Fiery Winter, Digital Collage, 2021
I am pleased to be among the artists accepted into the online exhibition Bold and Colorful, hosted by Exhibition Without Walls. The curator states that “with our world being so negative, we thought that we would like to brighten up things a little by having an exhibition that was upbeat in terms of images as well as audio. The title “Bold and Colorful” speaks to this as well.”
One of my accepted images is Fiery Winter (top.) I infused a snowy, hilly scene with glowing yellow, red and purple, while the trees remain a dark, bold black. One of my viewers commented that the yellow emanating from the houses gave her hope in a time of darkness.
Colorful Tulips
Soon, spring will be here, and like tulips blooming, I am feeling the hope of people coming together again…
(c) Betty Butler, Tulip Calligraphy, Digital Collage, 2021
I created a new digital collage with the concept of bold and colorful in mind. To do this, I blended pink tulips with a strong calligraphic-like line drawing. Soon, spring will be here, and like tulips blooming, I am feeling the hope of people coming together again, as more of us have access to the vaccine and COVID-19 rates go down.
I am honored to be exhibiting in Rome, Italy: Art in the Time of COVID, theEffects of the Pandemic During Lock-down. This group exhibition is taking place at the Bauhaus Home Gallery, December 5 – 11, 2020.
I did not create these following digital collages with a sense of joy, but rather an urgency to express my concern about a plight that has engulfed people across the entire world. I Can’t Breathe (vertical image below,) speaks to a collision between the crises of the murder of George Floyd and the US reaching 100,000 COVID-19 deaths. Six months later, the number of lost souls has climbed to 282,000. Even though a vaccine is on the horizon, far more deaths will inevitably occur.
Selected Images
(c) Betty Butler, The Shadow, Digital Collage, 11×14 in., 2020
(c) Betty Butler, I Can’t Breathe, Digital Collage, 14×11 in., 2020
(c) Betty Butler, Escape Plan, Digital Collage, 11×14 in., 2020
(c) Betty Butler Escape Plan, Digital Collage, 2020
Unbelievable 2020. This year we witnessed more than 200,000 deaths in the United States resulting from COVID-19. We also experienced police violence, protest and civil unrest, the worst California wildfires on record, and a president attempting to win an election with lies, deceit, and probable chaos yet to come.
Of course, my art has been influenced by some of these events. Escape Plan (above) started as a high contrast photograph of a street scene in NYC (from my time at The Cooper Union School of Art, 1973.) The street, probably an alleyway, shows buildings with fire-escapes and barbed wire smack down the middle. Then I added silhouettes of people, the virus, and digital painting. The fire escape in the image alludes to a hopeful escape plan from the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Of course, at this moment, there is none in sight, except for the practical measures of social distancing and mask-wearing. The president lies (or down-plays) the truth of COVID-19, so his base is reluctant to put these measures into place. Remarkably, mask-wearing has become politicized. In this image, there are only people traumatized by the barbed wire and looming disease.
California Fires
(c) Betty Butler, Fire Escape, Digital Collage, 2020
(c) Betty Butler, I Can’t Breath, Digital Painting, 2020
Ideas for I Can’t Breathe (above) came to me as I heard George Floyd’s last words, which echoed the words of seriously ill and dying COVID-19 patients. Visually, I envisioned unwarranted police violence, multiplying virus particles, facial masks, and a general sense of chaos.
In Minneapolis, MN, Memorial Day, May 25, 2020, four police officers snuffed out a black man’s life. Two days later, on May 27, the US reached a death toll of 100,000 persons from COVID-19. Concurrently, young people, black, white, and brown (mostly wearing masks), took to the streets protesting for justice. Finally, protests continued, until one, then the other three officers were charged with some degree of murder. The President could not help himself but make things worse. He ordered the United States military to tear gas a peaceful crowd of protesters in DC, so he could walk to a nearby church and hold up a bible (upside down) for a photo-op. The nation-wide and world-wide protests continue.
COVID-19 continues to spread
US states have reopened their businesses at different rates. Meanwhile, since Memorial Day, there has been a spike in virus spread and hospitalizations in some states. Let’s hope for a more unified approach to social distancing, mask-wearing, and testing in the future.
Exhibition in the Canary Islands, Spain
I was honored to have three of my prints juried into an international exhibition entitled Lost at Lacuna Festivals, Canary Islands, Spain. The theme could include lost culture, language, and traditions. My three chosen works referenced the Australian fires of 2019-2020, and the loss of life and environment. Then the curators informed the artists that the exhibition Lost was almost lost because of the pandemic. Soon, they found a solution and asked the artists for permission to show their work in an online festival.
(c) Betty Butler, Kangaroo Escape, Digital Collage, 2020(c) Betty Butler, Escaping the Fire, Digital Collage, 2020
It is hard to believe that it was only in January of this year that the world finally took notice of the 2019-2020 Australian fires. They had been devastating to the country’s environment and tragically caused human deaths and homelessness. However, the situation also pulled at our heartstrings. The world has witnessed the burning and suffering of Australia’s beautiful and rare animals. Scientists estimate one billion have died. In January, I was moved to create these digital collages relating to the inferno’s effect on human and animal life.
Concerning the Corona Virus, of course, modern travel can quickly spread a pandemic from continent to continent. Moreover, pandemics like this are expected to rise as the climate changes. Illnesses carried by mosquitoes, ticks, and other animals, will likely increase on a hotter planet. In addition, when humans cramp and stress animals in tight cages, a viral crossover from species to species can occur. This is especially true in wet markets, which create a toxic mix of animal fluids and human beings. These viruses may have been coexisting within the animal species for many years, but people carry no immunity to them.
It seems like the global community is learning painfully, not to wait too long to address a problem like a pandemic. We are seeing how quickly illness and death can mount up in a short amount of time. I hope our world community can learn from this and take corrective steps for our climate NOW. A tipping point for the earth could come sooner than we think.
(c) Betty Butler, Winter Gladioli, Digital Collage Print, 2019
I started Winter Gladioli (above) with photographs taken last August 2019. Then, I brought these flowers straight into January of 2020 by overlaying them with bare trees and muting parts of their bright red-pink color to white and gray. Immediately, it appeared like the gladioli were part of a snowy scene. Similarly, our climate has been unrecognizable in many ways across the globe. From massive fires in Australia to continuing ice melts in the Arctic, 2019 alone has seen unprecedented climate changes. These are the kinds of surprises, I for one, do not like to see.
I appreciate the gladiolus for its bright colors and succession of organic shapes.
Berlin exhibition in March 2020
I am honored to be included in an exhibition this March in Berlin, Germany, entitled, i am. an immigrant. The exhibit was curated by Dorit Jordan Dotan, artist in resident, Institut fur Alles Mogliche (Institute for Everything.) The exhibit explores demographic changes that affect global and local politics, economies, and day to day life. History forewarns what can happen when hate and fear grows among people coming from different cultures, who now share the same space. This group exhibition is a place to explore these clashes of culture. More info will be forthcoming.
I am honored to have been juried into a photography exhibit at the Pennsylvania Center for Photography, in Doylestown PA, a suburb of Philadelphia. The exhibit, November 1 – 17, 2019, was entitled Transformations. Throwaway Ocean (above) was included in the section called “Unlimited Exhibition.” This means that an artist was allowed to employ any type of digital process imaginable.
Freaky Halloween snowstorm!
Betty Butler, Polar Vortex, Digital Collage, 2019
Halloween really was scary in Chicago this year, but not because the children were disguised as monsters and goblins. It was frightening to observe so few of the trick-or-treaters out and about due to an early snowstorm. The leaves still clung to their branches, even as white powder clung to them. By Veterans Day November 11, it snowed again, and Arctic cold surged as far south as Florida. Yes, our climate is changing, but on the other hand, not randomly.
Polar Vortex (above) is part of my series that illustrates stronger climate events, such as floods, drought, and, blizzards. These, can bring havoc upon our way of life.
