Daydreaming: Niki Butcher’s Hand-Painted Photography

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT

The exhibit includes more than 60 images created over five decades by photographer and artist Niki Butcher. Inspired by vintage hand-painted postcards of the 1930s, Butcher invites the viewer to see the historical, beautiful, and sometimes quirky aspects of Florida and the world through the eyes of a thoughtful optimist.

“I love nature and Florida is filled with these wonderful people and unique places. I wanted to capture them before they disappeared,” notes Butcher. Butcher’s keen eye and artistic insight capture images that illuminate and suspend moments in time and place. From serene scenes of nature to vibrant, sometimes humor-infused scenes evocative of days gone by, her hypnotic images invite the viewer to step closer and daydream right along with the artist.

ABOUT NIKI BUTCHER

Growing up in Palo Alto, California, Niki was inspired by the intellectual and culturally diverse community that formed around Stanford University. Her interest in the arts began when she was in high school, and by the age of sixteen, she had sold her first painting. She married fellow artist Clyde Butcher in 1963, and they had two children, Jackie and Ted. In the 1980s, the family moved to Florida, and the couple sold art at local art fairs. Niki was inspired by her love of vintage postcards, architecture and nature.

After the tragic death of her 17-year-old son, it was a stop at a roadside attraction, Orchid Isles, in the middle of Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida, that opened a new chapter in her life. In the early 1990s, Niki and Clyde built their home and gallery where the rundown orchard once stood. Here, she captured and documented the endangered ecosystems of the Everglades and the slowly vanishing funky, quirky Florida she so loved.

Today, Niki has moved from hand-painting with oils to digital painting, but her artwork still embodies the inspiration she receives from the community she has built around herself.

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