Butterflies and Trees

This is a pretty random posting, but I'd like to share a couple pictures. The first one is of a beautiful Tiger Swallowtail butterfly I took yesterday in my backyard. Isn't it pretty? It took a couple shots because it kept moving around (expletives did escape my mouth more than once), but I finally got this perfect shot. My husband is pretty knowledgeable about different flora and has landscaped our entire yard with his bare hands. Apparently many of the plants and flowers growing in our yard attract butterflies because they are all over the place... these gorgeous Tiger Swallowtails as well as the black version of them, which I will attempt to capture a picture of as well.

The second picture I'm sharing is a painting that I painted with acrylic paints on canvas a couple years ago. I love the starkness of the black and white, and, for me, it sort of signifies my struggle with Bipolar Disorder, the black and whites being the polar opposites of one another, just like the highs and lows that I experience. This painting hangs in our dining room and matches perfectly. The whole dining room is black and white, very simplistic and modern. I love to paint and I am blessed with periods of extreme creative energy. I didn't say I was any good :), just that I love painting and that it is such a great expression of who I am as a person. I will share more of my paintings soon.