Another local event I enjoy participating in is the Mayor of West Monroe’s art show. Her name is Staci Albritton Mitchell and the lobby outside her office in city hall makes a great art gallery. Every year since elected she has hosted a year-long show in that space.

This year’s theme is “Happiness,” and I am delighted to have been selected to participate. I didn’t have any trouble finding images to submit! What says happiness better than butterflies and wildflowers, my fave subjects?

Dance of the Butterfly won first place in the “Artistic” category of Louisiana Master Naturalist Association’s 2022 photography competition. It’s one of those somewhat rare images in which I do some manipulation to create a mood or express an idea. In this case, I added some blur to the trailing edges of the butterfly’s wings and to parts of the background, plus a swirly filter, all to generate a sense of the movement and energy of a butterfly flitting about.

Heart of Gold is not a wildflower. I’m sure I make this close-up of a camellia blossom in someone’s yard right here in Monroe/West Monroe. So if you see someone lurking at the edge of your yard photographing your flowers, it could be me. Don’t worry. I’ll stay on the sidewalk!

Again, I did some editorial work on this one, using a filter to give it a “painterly” look. Photography and painting are distinctly different disciplines, each with its own sensibility and skills needed to do well. Once in awhile, a bit of a painterly effect serves a photograph well. But my fave thing about this image is still that single dew drop clinging to the back of a petal.

Finally, I always find happiness in the sun shining through palm branches! Palm Psalm III is a palm I encountered down off the coast of Alabama on Dauphin Island. This piece has been in several shows, both online and in galleries.

The opening reception for “Happiness” us May 7, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. Again, the location is the Mayor’s office lobby on the second floor of City Hall in West Monroe. The show will be up for a year.