After a brief hiatus to welcome our newest family member, I’m thrilled to be painting again. I had optimistically hoped for pockets of studio time during those first three months with Elliot, but between the sleepless nights and an unfinished kitchen remodel, painting just wasn’t in the cards. These days, I paint when the baby nap and I’m reminded how good it feels to be back at the easel.
A Remarkable Discovery
This new piece features the Fiji Papilio swallowtail, a butterfly with a story as striking as its wings. Native to the island of Vanua Levu, this brilliantly patterned butterfly somehow managed to escape scientific recognition until just a few years ago—a fact that still astonishes researchers.
The butterfly was first photographed in 2017 by ornithologist Gregg Kerr, who was in Fiji as an instructor with Operation Wallacea, a foundation that supports student-led scientific expeditions. Though birds were his focus, Kerr noticed and documented a butterfly so unusual that when he shared the images, some experts suspected a hoax.
Naming the Natewa Swallowtail
The mystery caught the attention of the Swallowtail and Birdwing Butterfly Trust, which dispatched entomologists John Tennent and Richard Markham to investigate. Their fieldwork led to the formal identification and classification of the new species, which they named the Natewa Swallowtail.
Though Tennent has described over 100 new species and subspecies of butterflies in his career, he called this one “easily the most spectacular.” As he put it, “For such an unusual and large new butterfly to be discovered somewhere we thought was so well known is remarkable.”
Painting the Wonder
It’s always a privilege to paint something with such natural beauty—and even more so when its backstory is filled with curiosity, perseverance, and awe. This swallowtail is a reminder of how much wonder remains in the world, waiting just off the path.
