Becca Butler
Becca Butler, Murals by Becca
Seeing the world through eyes of wonder makes life delightfully pleasant. As a filmmaker, photographer and now whimsical artist it gives me the chance to color the world with peace and love…one red, blue and yellow stroke at a time. The sea and her inhabitants seem to find a way into my work, every which way, murals and commissions alike. The Miami Marine Stadium sculpture is no different. I missed the concerts and boat races since moving to South Florida after its illustrious past. The main reason to visit Virginia Key and the Marine Stadium was to find a protected harbor from Hurricanes for our Sailboat. The holding was good and we covertly explored all the graffiti on the old grand dame wishing it was still alive. It was so exciting to find out they are going to restore that big sea shell. I was asked to create art using two stadium chairs because I envisioned a coral reef out of the parts. The wood seats and backs were curved enough for me to imagine my own clam shell. After rounding the ends of the wood to emulate the fluted shell, it was important to leave and reveal the embossed numbers of seats 14 and 17. I felt that revealing the legs for the chairs was important too and they also provided a structure or frame for my coral reef. My sights through a dive mask and those images that are burned into my brain leaped to the task and a coral reef was born out of plaster of paris and chicken wire. A billowy crimson sea fan emerged at the start and then the majestic bronze staghorn coral followed. The momentum couldn’t be stopped and a corky sea finger piece joined the reef as well as a spongy leaf coral yearning to join the group. The colors explode whimsically as they do with all my creations and this piece is called “Under my Sloop at the Miami Marine Stadium”. I am a painter, usually, and it’s thrilling to know that I can also see my art three dimensionally.
