BUDDHA | Niki Butcher

Naples Botanical Garden © 2021

Photographic Story The beauty and peace that I found at the Naples Botanical Garden were refreshing. The Asian Garden is where I found a sense of serenity and became a favorite place of mine. When I saw this statue of Buddha, I felt like it perfectly represented the peace I was feeling in the Asian Garden. According to L.S. Cousins, the goal of Buddhist principle is “the final removal of the disturbing mental elements which obstruct a peaceful and clear state of mind, together with a state of awakening from the mental sleep which they induce.” I found that peace of mind he speaks of at the Naples Botanical Asian Garden. Anger and worry disappeared, replaced with peace, acceptance, and love. I was able to slow down my mind and just be in the moment. I wish everyone could experience that kind of peaceful pause. The Art of Hand Painting Black and White Photographs Photographed with a Sony digital camera and instead of oil painting with Q-tips and cotton balls, she was able to paint using Photoshop. Changing from the old-fashioned way of doing her art, to the new ‘fashion’ of using technology was challenging, but she’s enjoying getting back to her own personal expression. Archival Print Making Niki’s open edition gicleé artwork is printed on Sunset Bright Velvet Rag matte finish paper using eight archival inks. A state-of-the-art Epson Stylus Pro printer creates deep, rich dark values that hold subtle detail in the shadows as well as bright vivid colors that are truly tropical.