Skip Whitcomb (American, B. 1946) "Butterflies" Signed lower right. Original Watercolor painting on Illustration Board. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting is the original painting which was published on the Fleetwood First Collectors Panel for Mint Stamps of the World Swaziland Butterflies issued January 4, 1992. Thoreau said that the study of butterflies extends the limits of being in new directions, so that "I walk in nature with a sense of greater space and freedom. It suggests, besides, that the universe is not rough-hewn, but perfect in its details." A butterfly is among the most beautiful of creatures. There's so little structure or power to produce such a flash of light and color. Their color is partly dyes and partly diffraction of light and is similar to the colors seen on a wet oily street or in a rainbow. The colors, some brilliant and some subdued, protect the butterflies by letting them blend with their background, by advertising that they taste bad, by suddenly dazzling their pursuer, or by making them resemble a larger animal the pursuer fears. Butterflies have been seen at amazing heights by airplane pilots and far out to sea where they have landed on ships to rest during migrations. Most species eat plants, some eat insects, and some cross-pollinate the many flowers they visit. Some newly-hatched bachelor butterflies swarm around a mud puddle for days before beginning their search for a mate. There are species which like to fight, attacking birds, dogs, and people, often driving them away. Butterflies and the rest of nature were classified by Carl von Linne -- Linnaeus in Latin. His name is part of the scientific name of many butterflies, indicating that he named them first, for example, the pipevine swallowtail is Papilio philenor Linnaeus. Image Size: 20.25 x 16.25 in. Overall Size: 25 x 20 in. Unframed. (B14331)