Mazarine | 40 × 60 inches

Blue has called to me since childhood—a colour my eye finds before all others. Rich and luminous, it holds a curious kind of magic: the coolness of deep water, the spark of something electric, the hush of an evening sky. It can awaken and soothe in the same breath. Across centuries, others have sought to hold its wonder, from the blue created in ancient Egypt to the treasured ultramarine drawn from lapis lazuli, once among the most precious of painters’ pigments. Here, my inspiration takes wing in the male Mazarine blue butterfly, its deep blue a small, living marvel. This painting is my return to that first fascination: a place where stillness shimmers, and a childhood love of colour unfolds its wings.