Catching Idle Butterflies

Just braggin'

My mom always had a love of art and began painting at 12. For her, it was a hobby for her to pass the time. The only things she ever sold were illustrations for her brother-in-law’s botany books.

About five years ago, she became a fan of Mystery Science Theatre 3000. Having just retired, she started painting the characters inside famous paintings such as Picasso’s “Femme L'Ouiseau” and Van Gogh’s “Starry Nights.” She conceived of 50 paintings total and has seven more to go.

At one poing, having completed a half a dozen of them, she took them to display at various Science Fiction conventions all over the country. She intended to showcase them only, because since she was painting copyright protected characters, she couldn’t sell them.

But people kept asking to either buy the paintings or if she had prints for sale. It became such a common occurrence, she decided that perhaps she could sell prints. The originals she will never sell.

It took almost a year, but she gained permission from “Best Brains”, the company who owns the MST3K characters, to sell her work. It only cost her $2000 and the promise she would send a limited edition of each painting to them.

Not a bad deal, if you ask me.

Although not a fan of MST3K as much as she is, having seen the show less than five times, her paintings are impressive. It’s a rare gift to be able to mimic different styles and in many mediums, and my mom has it.

So if you’d like to see for yourself, check out http://www.mst3k-fic.com .

She also has stories, poetry and other things for you to check out as well, so go and have yourself a little fun.

You can buy the prints online as well, and they are reasonably priced .