the milky way and the monarchs (works in progress)

I have been trying to work through the pandemic fog to bring forward these paintings, from a series that was already planned as a reflection on human losses. In this case I am recalling the beauty of the night sky in suburban New Jersey, being able to regularly see the Milky Way, and the summertime presence of hundreds of Monarch butterflies in my mother's garden. Regular DDT spraying decimated the Monarchs by the time I was a teenager and now light pollution makes the Milky Way a sight that is rarely seen.