Orchid and Butterfly. Leonard Koscianski, 48″x36″, oil on canvas, 2004.
Orchid and Butterfly is a medium size painting in oils on canvas. It is a combination of imagination and observation. The scene itself is imaginary; the orchid is based on a live orchid in the artist’s collection, the pattern on the butterfly’s wings is imagined. The visual richness of the painting is created by color patterns that combine reflected and transmitted light. The painting has a dark night time feel with light pouring in from above. This is a surreal, dreamlike image. It is strongly influenced by mid Twentieth Century American and European artists like Georgia O’Keeffe, Rene Magritte, and Salvador Dali.