Scott Fulton, Artist

About Scott

I'm Scott Fulton, an Orange County artist who grew up in Santa Barbara and has spent my life immersed in my passion for photography and the elements of nature. A graduate of Art Center College of Design, graduated with a degree in Cinematography/Photography, and a minor in Illustration. I fell in love with color and the use of light to tell a story because I found the simple things in life are often overlooked and unappreciated.

My artistic journey began many years ago at age 9 when my mother gave me an instant camera and told me to go outside and photograph anything I found interesting. "Bring the camera back after you finish taking all the pictures and I will take it to get developed," my mother said. I had a small pond out behind my house that became my haven and backdrop for my first photography venture.

I found myself shooting anything that would stand still for me, everything from the stray neighborhood dog to butterflies and frogs. I quickly finished the roll of film and couldn't wait to get the pictures back to see what masterpiece I had photographed. I ran home with excitement and gave my mom the film, and as promised, she had it developed and brought home that all too familiar white and orange Kodak envelope. I opened it, and to my surprise, I had 24 beautiful shots of my index finger partially covering the lens. I was so disappointed at that moment, but I was determined. I asked for another instant camera and haven't stopped shooting since. A lesson well learned!

After graduating from Art Center, I found myself working for the film industry as a camera operator shooting commercials and loving every minute of it. My artistic passion grew over the years, and I found myself getting back into "Stills" where I fell in love with the art of Food Photography! I immersed myself and learned everything I could about all the tricks of that trade, and began photographing food for publications, menus, and restaurants.

Fast forward to the next phase of my life when I started a family. The artistic world sometimes can be unforgiving and tough for an artist. I knew starting a family meant responsibility, bills, and insurance. What happened next was a complete 180. I offered my photography and camera experience to a local fire department to shoot their training videos. They took me up on my offer and gave me a job working for the city working for both the police and fire departments. Before I knew it, I was riding around on fire engines and in police cars all the while filming and interviewing for their monthly training videos. What a blast I thought; I loved it so much that I applied for a job as a Firefighter and got hired. I have worked as a firefighter for the past 25 years while never giving up my artistic endeavors. Having just retired, provided more time to create my artwork.

Prior to retiring three years ago, I visited the Dominican Republic where I saw a beautiful exhibit of exotic butterflies and became fascinated by their beauty. Different colors. sizes and shapes of butterflies filled the air of the exhibit as they gently floated amongst themselves. As I sat and watched in amazement, I saw a group of giant, blue butterflies grouped together perched on the base of a tree forming a kind of a shape. In my mind's eye the shape formed into what I could only describe as a long, flowing, fluorescent blue dress. I couldn't get that image out of my mind, so I came home and brainstormed about how to creatively reproduce and display it as a work of art.

From that day on, I have been designing beautiful, butterfly artwork. I make each display from start to finish and sign and date each display. My exotic butterfly artworks are of the finest quality in the world.

WHERE DO THE BUTTERFLIES COME FROM?

Hi everyone, thank you so much for checking out my site and artwork. I have been getting a lot of questions regarding and frankly concerns about the process, the treatment and where the butterflies I use for my artwork are sourced and come from. I would like to address these concerns to help you understand and hopefully put your mind at ease.

I can really appreciate everyone who has the same love for another living creature as I do. Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder! However, when it comes to artistic expression, beauty of an artwork is closely linked to its ability to stimulate emotions within us. I have visited many beautiful and amazing butterfly habitats around the Us and in many countries and their beauty has stimulated me immensely.

Butterflies are God's creatures, unique, symmetrical, colorful, and absolutely beautiful, they are not only beautiful creatures, but do a great deal for the environment. Like bees, they are plant pollinators, and they provide population control for several plant and even insect species by eating them. They also serve as sustenance for other species too. But the fact is that they only live for approximately 3 weeks.

I have had many people accuse me of being this kind of butterfly killing monster, on the contrary my goal with my art is to absolutely preserve the natural beauty of these amazing creatures in my art for people to see. I have never killed a butterfly in my life, they are truly one of the most amazing creatures on this earth and I cherish them for their beauty and

grace

We all have visited a natural history museum at some point in our lives, walking through seeing all the amazing and different animals that we didn't even knew existed but very curious about. These museums have created a space to teach us about their lives in their natural habitat. Maybe I can include on my website, everything about each butterfly that I use to educate the public as a teaching moment.

The exotic butterflies that I use for my displays are purchased from Commercial Butterfly Breeding Farms located primarily in South America, Africa, and Indonesia. None of them are captured or killed for my art nor are any of them endangered species. With their life spans being approximately three weeks, they flourish in their natural enclosed surroundings. The butterfly's mate, lay their eggs and soon die a FULL Natural Death. The workers then pick up the butterflies and rate each one for its quality. I purchase only the highest quality butterflies that the farms offer. The females are brought in from the wild to lay their eggs inside a large, enclosed habitat. This way she and all her babies are protected from disease, parasites, and predators. One female butterfly can lay thousands of eggs. In the wild only a handful will survive into adulthood because of all these obstacles. In captivity virtually 100% will survive.

Once the butterflies reach adulthood any are released back into the wild to help increase the indigenous populations. The rest are kept in the butterfly habitats for the rest of their lives, which is only 3 weeks or so in most cases, after they hatch from their chrysalis. There is a lengthy process that is involved once the butterfly has lived its full course of life and died. In a nutshell and without boring you, it involves carefully picking them up off the ground before decomposition sets in and individually packing them into a special acid free paper that will not harm the wings or the butterfly's exoskeleton. It is very humane, and the deceased butterfly are treated with such care and dignity.

Butterfly Farming is a win win situation! It helps to preserve rain forests and assures the survival of natural butterfly habitats. Butterfly farmers are encouraged to grow plants and raise insects opposed to clearing their land for cash crops. Your purchases will help the farming industry continue without threats to the natural wild populations of butterflies. A portion of every artwork sold goes back to helping build a sustainable ecosystem for these butterflies. Thank you again for your comments, I hope I was able to answer your questions and concerns.

FAQs

ARE THE COLORS REAL AND HOW LONG DOES THE COLOR LAST? Yes, the colors are real. Only a few butterflies' loose color or fade over time. Properly maintained in a collection or display they can last indefinitely

ONE OF MOST FREQUENT QUESTIONS I GET IS, ARE THEY REAL? Of course! All our butterflies are preserved using the same techniques museums use to prepare their specimens for display. Butterflies have exoskeletons that can be maintained indefinitely, just like our own skeletons. The wings are also part of their exoskeleton, are made of chitin, and have scales that reflect light and give us the colors we see when we look at them.

Start Collecting Today!

Scott Fulton, Artist

About Scott

Photo Gallery

WHERE DO THE BUTTERFLIES COME FROM?

FAQs

Cookie Policy