BIG CYPRESS BEND | Niki Butcher

Big Cypress National Preserve © 2016

Photographic Story I took this photograph years ago, but the quality of the image wasn’t all that good and I wanted to return and do it again, but time slipped away. I loved the little house nestled into a tropical scene. When Hurricane Irma hit the area the whole scene disappeared. Most of the palms are down, the bushes are either gone or stripped and the little house is smashed. I was saddened that I didn’t take the time to do a better job of photographing it…lesson learned! The Art of Hand Painting Black and White Photographs Photographed with a Sony digital camera and instead of oil painting with Q-tips and cotton balls, Niki was able to paint using Photoshop. Changing from the old-fashioned way of doing her art, to the new ‘fashion’ of using technology was challenging, but she’s enjoying getting back to her own personal expression. 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.