Masquerade

make her yours 20”x20”, acrylic on a cradled wood panel with 3/4” profile (no pressing need to frame). $1900 to the first asking nicely, shipping inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost. Masquerade can ship mid June 2026. Anyone remember the drawings I created years ago featuring totems made of Butterfly, Fox, Bear and Deer? I exhibited a dozen of the pieces in a group show, then tucked them away into my flat files. A pile of unresolved drawings still sits here, rather hopefully, on my drafting table. I also painted a number of Fox pieces featuring Butterfly in unexpected ways - most recently, Kitsune, featuring Fox spliced with a Butterfly totem. At the time I had tried a number of approaches with Bear and Butterfly, but wasn’t satisfied with what showed up. I figured it simply wasn’t meant to be and moved onto other concepts. Last weekend, after spotting the first swallowtail of the season, I saw a Bear Butterfly composition in my head so clearly I thought it was in that stack of drawings. That I had seen how to resolve something already begun. I rifled through them along with another tub of research and concepts from that same time - there was nothing there matching what I had envisioned. So I decided to bring it to life - I had nothing to lose, right? I pulled out the drawings and resources that resonated and got to work directly. I blocked the painting in with some new-to-me techniques that simply showed up - like a tap on the shoulder and a why don’t you try this. No second guessing or rationalizing, just picking up the tools and indulging. I saw promise in what was shaping up, but also thought I might be a bit in over my head or returning to that earlier matchup that was incompatible. And of course, in true synchronious style, I got a sign: the book I started reading the following day (Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E.Schwab) included an entirely unexpected plot twist from 1500’s Venice during Carnivale, with characters wearing elaborate masks. I took it as a wink, a nudge from the universe, telling me that I was moving in the right direction with this painting. And then the title, Masquerade, came to mind - it matched the mysterious identity of Bear-Butterfly and alluded to so many other symbolic interpretations between the two. Masquerade feels quite different from what I’ve been doing, and yet also familiar. I sat with her today for a long time and wrote, free association style, about what might come next. I have an exciting list of takeaways and new problems to solve. Each painting births the next one, you see. I am so grateful for your interest in my work. Thank you so much for your support. Big Masquerade Love, Kim. PS Payment plans on request for purchases greater than $500 - 30% non refundable deposit reserves the painting, with 6 months to pay off balance plus any s&h (my current pieces include s&h - paintings done prior to 2026 are at my old prices and s&h is a separate line item). Returning collectors - don’t forget to use “COLLECTOR10” discount at checkout for 10% off acquisitions. Questions can always come my way.