The Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency has announced the debut exhibit of Niki Butcher, “Daydreaming: Niki Butcher’s Hand-Painted Photography.” The exhibit will feature more than 60 hand-painted photographs created over five decades. The free exhibit is on display at the Clearwater Main Library, 100 N. Osceola Ave., through January 31, 2023.
Learn more about Niki Butcher
Niki Butcher has developed her own technique for hand-painting her darkroom photographs, starting with capturing a scene on black and white film. Setting her work apart through use of color, she then uses Q-tips and cotton balls to apply oil paint, creating a unique color palette that reflects her optimistic view of the world.
Related: Apply for Hillsborough’s Professional Development for Artists Grant
Butcher’s work captures places and people that stand out as beautiful, unique, endangered, and authentic, offering a view of the world that adds a bit more color, a good dose of humor, and an infusion of positivity.

Hand-painted photograph. Courtesy of Niki Butcher
Butcher said she is excited to present the first solo exhibition of her artwork in Clearwater, a community that celebrates its locals and invites tens of thousands of visitors to experience the beauty and fun of Florida’s Gulf Coast every year.
“Using my photographs and oil paints, I am able to turn landscapes into dreamscapes and reality into fantasy. It is my hope that you can sit back, relax, and take a moment to enjoy this beautiful, quirky, fun, and sometimes funky world that we occupy,” she said.
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