Giorgia DeCota

 

For my second painting, I chose to paint a monarch butterfly on a wood panel because I wanted to show the beauty and fragility of nature in a simple, natural way. I used wood instead of canvas to give the piece an earthy, grounded feel. You can still see some of the wood grain behind the butterfly, which makes it feel more real and connected to the environment.

In this painting, I wanted to show how something simple—like a cored apple—can still have meaning. The apple is missing its center, but it’s still there, still part of the picture. To me, that represents how people can go through things and still be whole in their own way. I added yellow stars to make it feel a little magical, like there’s still hope and wonder in the world, even when things don’t seem perfect. The painting shows how there’s still beauty in what’s left behind, and how even something as ordinary as an apple can tell a story.