My “DAY OF THE DEAD” series was inspired by a documentary I watched titled “flight of the butterflies”. In this insightful documentary it shows the incredible migration of the Monarch Butterfly. Scientists are baffled how this tiny insect can travel these enormous distances.  They start in the South American Mexico area and travel up into North American and Canada and back. What inspired my first day of the dead skull painting was that the Mexican people of these small villages believe that their ancestor’s souls are carried in on the wings of these Butterflies and they celebrate this as the “Dia De Los Muertos” or “day of the dead”. The catch 22 in this is that big lumber companies have come into these areas and began to cut down all of the rain forests where these Monarch butterflies live and it is killing millions of them.  These small towns are lured in by big money and the deforestation is devastating.  It’ not only killing these big beautiful trees but also killing off a part of their culture and in a way their legacy. This was very powerful and moving which inspired me to paint the “DAY OF THE DEAD MONARCH BUTTERFLY”.  I built the skulls face using symbols of the situation. The Butterflies are the eyes which stand for the souls, the chainsaws are the eye brows which represent the cutting down of the trees and their homes. The diamond represents strength and power that the butterflies use to make their migration every year and the flowers are the symbols of birth and the growing of each generation.

As this series continues to grow I really love choosing different theme skulls and doing research about that topic so I can include some powerful elements and fun little Easter eggs within each piece.  I feel like it builds extra levels and depth to the painting which can also add a beautiful story.