TROPICAL SANTA | Niki Butcher

Estero Island © 1990

Photographic Story This image was taken on Ft. Myers beach, and yes, that is Clyde. Years ago, our daughter, Jackie, had an art gift business. One of the things she did was greeting cards. She decided she could make Christmas cards because her dad looked much like Santa! We went out and found a Santa jacket and hat for Clyde, but the only one we found in his size was a heavy winter coat. We also purchased a Santa beard that Clyde put over his beard. After getting ready, we headed to the beach and set up this photograph. It was summertime and very hot. I took several angles of different compositions. Clyde kept saying he would pass out if we didn’t hurry up! Ahhhh, the things a father does for his daughter! The Art of Hand Painting Black and White Photographs Niki prints her images on fiber-base black and white mat surface paper in the darkroom, then using Q-tips and cotton balls, she applies a thin coat of oil paint over the surface allowing the image to gently be seen through the oil paint. Archival Print Making Niki’s open edition gicleé artwork is printed on Sunset Bright Velvet Rag matte finish paper using eight archival inks. A state-of-the-art Epson Stylus Pro printer creates deep, rich dark values that hold subtle detail in the shadows as well as bright vivid colors that are truly tropical.