Artist: Michele Arthur -

Gnome Alone

Gnome Alone is inspired by and represents many different things I love: the garden, the forest, my Polish heritage and my students. The mushroom represents my Polish heritage (from my mom), and the gnome represents everything I have learned about gardening (from my dad). I have used all of this knowledge in my classroom with my students by taking them on hikes, helping them plant a school garden, and finding out about their cultural background through the arts. I have made many ceramic gnomes either with my students or as part of my business. Like people, Gnomes have all different personalities, and I enjoy listening to how each gnome with be placed in their homes and gardens as a guard. I am hoping that Gnome Alone will bring the same to his owner.

Artist: Michele Arthur -

Donuts Should Grow in the Garden -

Who doesn't love donuts and a warm beverage? The butterfly was inspired by that love that people have for this breakfast treat and my art students. One of my favorite places to eat breakfast is on my back porch, near my garden, and with a warm beverage no matter the time of year. At the time of the design of the butterfly, my students and I were making food out of clay. I asked them about what design I should do on a butterfly and that I wanted something different. They responded, " Make a butterfly with donuts on it. " And the concept was born

Artist: Hope Aubuchon - Stained Glass Daisies
I was inspired by the simple joy of daisies and the classic feel of stained glass.

Artist: Zeno Aubuchon - The inspiration for Quilted Comfort is the nice relaxing, comforting, feeling you can get from a quilted blanket.

Artist: Laurel Bahe - Perfectly Imperfect:
At first glance butterflies seem to be perfectly symmetrical, but on closer inspection I see they are not. The patterns are defined and my eye reads them as the same on each wing but there are variations, some more than slight. I was intimidated to paint a butterfly because I thought my rendering should be exactly symmetrical but then I really looked and felt empowered to paint a "realistic" butterfly because the wing patterns are not perfectly symmetrical; I can paint "not perfect".

Artist: Laurel Bahe - Awfully Pretty:
I love to marble. Marbling involves floating paint on a thickened water (think gravy consistency) moving the paint around with a thin pointy tool of some sort and printing (dipping into) the floating paint onto a surface (usually paper) to get really cool intricate smooth-lined patterns. That's how I got the fun swirly patterns for Awfully Pretty. The patterns on real butterfly wings were my inspiration to marble a butterfly. I also love words and oxymorons, we can discuss further whether Awfully Pretty is really an oxymoron or not.

Artist: Laurel Bahe - Zest For Life:
On average adult butterflies live for about two weeks. YIKES THAT'S SHORT! After spending about five weeks as a crawling caterpillar and mummy-like chrysalis a little ZEST is deserved. I'm inspired by butterflies are colorful and bold, yet delicate and pretty too.
I used acrylic paint skins on this butterfly. Ask me about that at the Boot Barn Gala...

Artist: Virgina R. Bahe - Flying High by Virginia Bahe:
I'm writing blurb for my mom, Virginia Bahe, who died July 30,2022 at the young age of 90. She was an English teacher so I'm sure she would have said this better and it would be her true thoughts, I'm just guessing about her inspiration for Flying High.
Mom always said she goes along to get along; she didn't consider herself an artist but would participate in our circle of friends' creative endeavors like painting Rotary butterflies - this is her third one! She was petrified to paint the first one (I did her entry unknown to her), liked painting the second and really looked forward to painting the third. I think her inspiration was the camaraderie of her friends sharing time painting together, the realization that she enjoyed painting, and the thrill of seeing her butterfly fit in perfectly with all the others painted by 'real artists'.

Artist: Andrea Box - Luna:
I have always been extremely drawn to the moon motif. Eclipses, phases, rising, and setting - I have always seen it as a natural symbol of balance and mystery. It is the first thing I look for in the night sky.

Artist: Marilyn LeVan Chambon - A butterfly is proof that you can go through a great deal of darkness not knowing that the best is still yet to come.

Artist: Marilyn LeVan Chambon - Most of us would benefit if we could let go of parts of our past so we could grow into who we are created to be, just like a butterfly.

Artist: Marilyn LeVan Chambon - My mother was a lover of nature and marveled over butterflies and birds. I am always reminded of her love and free spirit whenever a beautiful butterfly gracefully appears.

Artist: Joan Dacus- "New Vibrations" comes from the impact the COVID pandemic had on our lives and how society is adjusting and adapting to all the changes as a result. I wanted the butterfly to project color and sunflowers to signify hope and life.

Artist: Lorraine Danzo - (In the Cool of the Evening) Watching as the cool lavenders and teals of the evening creep in. I want to express tranquility using cool lavenders and teals.

Artist: Lorraine Danzo - (Razzle Dazzle) Expressing "joy" on the wing by using bright colors and outward moving lines.

Artist: Lorraine Danzo - (Born to Fly) Observing the grace and ease of a butterfly in flight. Expressing a celebration of grace and movement.

Artist: Rudi DiAmco - Felt like I needed to do something patriotic given the current state of affairs.

Artist: Tycho Dwelis - Dreams of Dreams was deeply inspired by astrology and spiritual motifs, including the Evil Eye. The Evil Eye wards off bad luck and several cultures worldwide use it in art, jewelry, and architecture. The prominent constellation I painted in this piece was Gemini, as that zodiac is closely associated with change and transformation. Ultimately, the inspiration behind the work and the message I hoped to convey was that of inner transformation and protection from anything negative that may keep someone from being their best self.

Artist: Tejae Floyde - Beautiful peonies and daisies in my future flower garden.

Artist: Mary Gorman - "Blue Bird" I want to honor the courage demonstrated by the Ukrainians to keep their democracy by depicting sunflowers and the hope of a blue bird.

Artist: Mary Gorman - "Blue Leaf" Inspired by a beautiful butterfly I saw in Costa Rica. Nature is so amazing! I enhanced the eyes to encourage us to keep our eyes wide open to the beauty around us.

Artist: M. Denise Hammond - This butterfly has been created in honor of my friend, Kim. Kim passed away last September after living with ovarian cancer for over 3 years. Early on in her approach to cancer, Kim took on the moniker "Kimpossible". By all accounts, she shouldn't have made it past one year, but Kimpossible was able to repeatedly beat the odds. I entitled the piece, Kimpossible's Wings. Kim lived in Iowa, born and raised, but she loved the mountains. We had talked for years of her family and her moving to Colorado when she retired, or even before. We had such grand plans. She also half-heartedly tried to get me to move to Iowa by subtle things such as sending repeat gifts that all involved Iowa; mugs, shirts, books, magazines and even art she created! Then, Cancer. This butterfly is an interpretation of the unofficial state butterfly of Iowa (they don't have an official one yet). That is a nod to her Iowa roots and as luck would have it features a lot of orange, her favorite color. The base is a nod to Colorado, with the state flag over mountains. The top ribbon of mountains is in teal, the ribbon color for ovarian cancer. I hope the person that buys this butterfly can feel just a little of the love that went into it's creation and has a little 'possible' infused in their life.

Artist: Havalah Lamm - I painted "Dandilion" with the thought of a bumblebee in mind, I decided that some sort of flower would suit the bumblebee-like butterfly, and I love dandelions, so I thought to compose the two together. I've always loved simple artworks with unique names, and so I decided to change the spelling of dandelion to give it something special.

Artist: Sara Lee -
I was drawn to the many varieties of butterflies at Cheyenne Mountain State Park this spring. The colors of a summer garden inspired the bright and beautiful colors in my design.

Artist: Brandi Blackwood Lowe - Dreamtree In Blue

Inspiration for 'Dreamtree In Blue' comes from a series of paintings I've done over the years featuring the black and white striped 'dreamtree'. I love the visual work of Tim Burton and the contrast of bold color and pattern which serve as jumping off points for this piece.

Artist: Grisela Madrid - The inspiration was the song Heat Above by the band Greta Van Fleet

Artist: Julie McKenny - When I young, my parents bought a home with a torn up mattress in the back yard, doorless doorways filled with hanging bedded curtains, and a dark, smelly mossy pond out front. We spent an entire year renovating this new home, and the very last thing we tackled was the dreaded pond. I remember this experience vividly as I got bored watching my father drain the pond, but and as we got closer to the bottom my father gasped at the sight of rapid movement, darting objects and splashes from below. Low and behold, beneath the energetic swirling there were Japanese koi fish; that had been living off the overgrown algae for who knows how long. This experience sparked an immediately passion for my father, which inspired him to buy more koi fish and to design a Japanese inspired courtyard and pond.

Artist: Cornelia Mitchell - This year I chose a European butterfly because of what is happening in Ukraine and because my parents, who were European, lived through and survived WWII.

Artist: Piper Murphy - Alice In Wonderland
For my piece I was inspired by the original illustrations by Sir John Tenniel in the Lewis Caroll book "Alice in Wonderland"

Artist: Kelly Noffsinger - I am always inspired by the oneness of the cosmos experienced as the dance of energy (Spirit) flowing through all living things and the body of the earth

Artist: Georgia Padilla - I found inspiration for my butterfly from my daughter and the Neurodiverse community. The gold infinity symbols represent autism. The rainbow colors represent all forms of neurodiversity- such as ADHD, and OCD.

Artist: Jeanie Turse - Simple bold lines inspired this butterfly. While many butterflies are known for their complex designs, some butterflies have simple, bold arrangements of color bands.

Artist: Emerick Wissbaum - Bob Emerfly

My grandma made me do it and I wanted his name to be Bob, just Bob, not Bob Emerfly. I'm eight years old

Artist: Finley Wissbaum - Oh La La!

I like to spatter paint and wanted my butterfly to be pastel colors and not overdone.

Artist: Grayson Wissbaum - "THE AWESOME MIDDLE CHILD'S BUTTERFLY"

As I was painting my butterfly it kind of looked like and optical illusion so I kept painting it that way. I do like optical illusions so maybe they inspired me subconsciously.