30 in 30: Kamehameha Butterflies with Red Ohia

Kamehameha Butterflies With Red Ohia by Wendy Roberts

Kamehameha Butterflies With Red Ohia
Acrylic on Canvas
5″ X 7″
SOLD

After I had painted the butterflies on orange ohia in the prior painting, I decided I wanted to paint them with Red Ohia too. The name of this butterfly in Hawaiian is pulelehua, which roughly means “to float from flower to flower”, but it could be thought of as “floating flower” or “floating color” because it’s derived from the word pulelo which is “to float” or “to undulate in the air” combined with the word lehua, “reddish,” or “rainbow colored” which is also used in the Hawaiian name for the flowers of ohia lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha), iconic flowers of Hawaii that are endemic and sacred to Pele, the Goddess of Volcanoes. In my imagination I think of the butterflies landing gently on the ohia tree, only to transform into a flower, and then later, changing from a flower back into a butterfly.

This is day 6 of the 30 in 30 painting challenge. You can learn more and see the other pieces as they are revealed here:

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