The Pipevine Swallowtail. A North American butterfly, which I have never had the pleasure of laying my eyes upon. How does this influence my artistic practice? Could it be to do with the butterfly effect, in chaos theory where the beating wings of a butterfly can produce a hurricane a fortnight later on a different continent? No. Do I pay homage to the effort and labour expended by the caterpillar in order to produce such amazing displays for the purpose of sexual attraction? Not intentionally. With a show coming up in a church at Easter, was this a celebration of creation and new life? No. Then why did I paint such a creature? Is this answer simply… because it is beautiful?