On this Earth Day, 🌎 April 22, 2026, I am excited to announce that my painting, "Pipevine Swallowtail Jig" 🦋 has been awarded First Place 🏆 in the 2026 PlantArte native plant art exhibit!!!

PlantArte is a celebration of native plants through botanical art, originally offered in 2024 by Arte Sana's Plants & People, Plantas y Gente project in collaboration with local, state, and national native plant and environmental groups. See the website: https://www.plantgente.com/projects-8

--- About my painting, Pipevine Swallowtail Jig ---
Oil Painting on Canvas, by Kristy McNelly
30" x 40"

Let's observe the life cycle of the Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor). The swanflower (Aristolochia erecta) is a trailing grass mimic and is the larvae host. It starts as a twisted spear of a bud, then opens up an otherworldly, orchid-like, burgundy bloom with white spots. This Texas native’s bloom is curved like a swan’s neck with an inch long seedpod. The plant's toxin makes them taste bad to predators. The adult female butterfly lays her eggs on the swanflower stem and once hatched, the caterpillars feed on it.

The caterpillar then forms a chrysalis which hangs on a stem of a nearby bush or tree until it emerges as a butterfly with iridescent blue on top and blue speckled with orange on the flip side. The grape-scented fragrance of the Texas Mountain Laurel attracts the pollinators.

Most of my oil paintings start with a photo from a trip, or something that is pretty simple. This painting, on the other hand, required several days of study and conversations with native Texas plant experts prior to putting paint to canvas. Thank you to Suzanne Young, Lee Haile, and LeAnn Sharp for your expert help.