"Blue Monday" ?

Is this just another ploy by sales media ...?
like this link I received today, for a blue monday sale by the Society for All Artists:
http://www.saa.co.uk/blue-monday-saa-masking-fluid-bundle.html?utm_source=SAA+Database&utm_campaign=25b7ae5601-EN160117_Blue_Monday&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_69c0b1655a-25b7ae5601-175364785&mc_cid=25b7ae5601&mc_eid=902c736fec

it does rather seem like it !

One Blue Monday advert suggested cheering up the Monday blues....

well, certainly Mondays feel blue for me as its the day we do our cleaning...and I was never a fan of cleaning !... so if you need cheering up,...

Blue Morpho: oil on canvas by Janet Driver
This beautiful large butterfly landed on this Banana leaf just in front of me
while I was quietly sketching
almost as though asking me to sketch it too...
It stayed absolutely motionless for ages, and then finally, as a reward for my efforts, it began to flutter its wings slightly, gently opening them just enough for me to catch this glimpse of brilliant blue.... only for a few moments... before shutting them again .
It took several weeks trying to paint the brilliance of that small glimpse of blue... it was really exciting to discover how to make that jewel of colour really glow, and I will always remember the stillness and poise of that butterfly.

Blue Dream: oil on canvas by Janet Driver
Another surprising encounter... this time with a tree...
and the same stillness and poise
as  our neighbour's Magnolia tree basked in early spring sunshine

Butterfly Count 2015

There seem to be fewer butterflies around... is this true ? or is it just in our garden ?

I saw this beautiful Peacock butterfly a couple of years ago, but haven't noticed any since then... 

Has anyone seen any of them this year ?

I just happened to come across an advert for the  Butterfly Count... for the next week or two, until August 9th... & spent a lovely quiet 15 mins watching for butterflies.

 Saw a few large white butterflies circling around one another and then fluttering away on the breeze, or gently floating into the lavender... a couple of very small brown ones, or so I thought...but they turned out to be bees, also enjoying the lavender !  

  I was really surprised how few butterflies I saw... I thought we had planted several butterfly friendly plants...so where are all the other butterflies ? 

...years ago we used to see Red Admirals,  and many others I couldnt name...but theres a very good identification page to download from  

   

  www.bigbutterflycount.org  

A few years ago I visited a tropical butterfly house, and saw this amazing Blue Morpho which landed on a large banana leaf and basked in a pool of sunlight.

At first its wings were tightly closed & I was fascinated by the "eyes" & other patterns, quickly sketching away while it sat obligingly, almost as though it knew it was sitting for its portrait!

Can you imagine my surprise when it suddenly began to open its wings...just enough for me to glimpse this brilliant blue inside. What a challenge...could I possibly paint its portrait with this vibrant blue ? it took a long time to give the appearance of glimmer and shine, experimenting with various blue glazes...and, yes, this is one of those oil paintings that is best viewed from a distance... with, perhaps, a little time just to sit in silence....?