Glad you asked!  In the terrestrial animal kingdom, what you are seeing is one of nature’s most amazing magic tricks that fools the eye into seeing the color blue. Yes, you are technically seeing blue, but the actual color is not a blue pigment but the subtraction of colors to show you only the blue in the color spectrum.  Huh?  With one known exception, nature’s creatures do not produce blue pigment, so they resort to other methods, or deception, to get you to see the wonderful color that is blue.

It is pretty amazing that only a very few known animal species in the entire animal kingdom produce a true blue pigment. One is the “Obrina Olivewing” butterfly.  How can that be, you might ask, since we see blue flowers, birds, amphibians, and other animals?  Well, animals that have blue colorations achieve this by a process called “Structural Color” which changes the wavelength of light.  When light hits special structures on a cell, wing, or other parts of an organism, they cause the wavelengths to bounce a certain way which enables you to see the color that is intended to be seen.

For example, the Blue Morpho butterfly is not actually blue but gets its color from the fact that its wing scales are shaped in a certain way that the only wavelength of light it reflects is blue.  If the scales were shaped differently, it would not be blue that is seen.  Blue Jays are yet another example of this incredible display.  They get their color through their own unique process, too.  Each feather consists of light-scattering, microscopic beads spaced to cancel out everything but the blue wavelength.  Absolutely amazing!

Luckily for me, I have blue pigments in my paintbox.  I wanted to use all the blue paints I had in my possession (nine in all), especially since I do not rely on any light refraction tomfoolery to get my blues to be seen!  There are so many more wonderful, unique stories of how the color blue is seen in nature and each one is a truly fascinating read!  I just wanted to share a few examples of this incredible phenomenon.

“Chemiluminescence Of A Blue Whale”

Mal Waldron was a revered pianist and well known jazz musician, especially from the 1950s through the end of the 1960s. Having played with so many giants, including John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Jackie McLean, and Billie Holiday, it was easy to find him on many important albums.

I was lucky enough to see Mal in person at an intimate jazz club in Washington, D.C. in the early 1980s. I actually sat right next to him and watched his long fingers effortlessly work their magic. He was absolutely brilliant!

Recently, I read an article about his earlier troubles that I wasn’t aware of and discovered a sad but truly inspiring story.

Like so many jazz musicians in New York and of his day, Mal fell into drug use and suffered a breakdown when he overdosed on heroin in 1963. After his breakdown, he could not play or remember any music. Over several years, he gradually regained his skills and endured to teach himself to play again, partly by listening to his own records. He left the U.S. permanently in the mid-1960s, settled in Europe, and continued touring internationally until his death.

I have never heard of an artist having to relearn their craft with the assistance of using their own recordings. Such a testament of perseverance inspired me to paint.

Here’s my tribute piece to Mal entitled: “Ádooji“ which is Navajo for “He Named Himself; He Announced His Name”

“Ádooji”

The nautilus is an ancient living fossil that still lives among us and is older than the dinosaurs. Their lifespan may exceed 20 years, which is exceptionally long for a cephalopod. Fossil studies have shown they have not evolved much in 500 million years. When nature is efficient and practical there’s no need to change.  

Their shape is not just a spiral but conforms to one of life’s great mysteries, the Golden Ratio, which is found throughout nature and is considered sacred. The Golden Ratio is based on the Fibonacci series, which is a series of numbers where the first two numbers add up to the succeeding number, like this: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233. This ratio (1.61803398..) can be found in every life form, from our DNA to many plants, the human skeleton, shells, and the proportions in animals. Mathematicians have always admired the nautilus as it represents to them one of nature’s perfect equations.

I’ve always been attracted to the spiral shape and it does appear in many of my paintings. There is something soothing to me about a spiral compared to any other shape. This piece is not a complete nautilus/spiral shape but has just the hint of one.

So here is my take on this ancient shape that has been around for at least 500 million years — it is resilient, mysterious, and sheer perfection — the nautilus.

“Family Nautilidae In the Midnight Hour”

I recently read an article about a Bengal Tigress named Machali that lived for 20 years in the wild. From 1999 to 2006, she gave birth to five litters of cubs (the average tigress has two or three) and a total of 11 cubs. As a result, she almost single-handedly repopulated the Ranthambore reserve. By 2004, there were only 15 tigers in Ranthambore. As of 2019, there were 71, more than half of which were Machali’s descendants.

She was fiercely protective of her young against the larger male tigers and consistently fought them off. If that didn’t work she seduced the males to distract them. She did whatever she had to do to keep them safe. Once she even fought off a 14-foot crocodile during an hour-long battle and ended up killing the crocodile while protecting her cubs. This event was captured on camera and catapulted her to instant stardom in the media.

She is one of the most beloved and photographed tigers of all time, has raised millions of dollars for conservation, and even has a commemorative postal cover and stamp in her honor. Machali brought such an awareness about tigers to the world and even became the unofficial ambassador on the magnificence in the life of a Tiger. She was also known as the Lady of the Lake, Crocodile Killer. Upon her passing, Machali, Queen of Ranthambore, was even honored with a traditional Hindu funeral.

On average, most tigers only live to be about 10 years of age. The fact she lived for 20 years in the wild and overcame so many struggles was a true inspiration for me.

Here is my tribute to her greatness:

“Machali Warrior”