Robert Butler’s full color autobiography of 400 pages, Timeless Echoes: The Life and Art of Robert Butler, is set to be released Tuesday. The book features over 200 photos of Robert Butler art, as well as another 65 of art by each of his nine children, who became talented artists in their own right. Over 100 photos of Butler’s life round out this most fascinating book of historic proportion.
Through talent, a fierce work ethic, and a winning personality, Butler moved from a turpentine still in Baxley, Georgia, to international fame as an artist, being named as one of the 26 original Florida Highwaymen. Butler’s journey led him around the world and into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. This book reveals the “heart behind the art” of Robert Butler.
The one thing that readers will experience in reading this book is the awareness that the hand of destiny was upon this man from very early childhood. As an African American artist struggling to survive midst the Civil Rights era of our country and facing myriads of conflicts, and even though Robert attempted to escape those conflicts, it was those very conflicts which served him well by honing his natural ability to paint and outfitting him with an eye to see the rapidly diminishing landscapes of a wild Florida. It pushed him to put those landscapes to canvas before they completely disappeared. Destiny had in mind to see to it that this artist would be the only artist attributed to having painted every ecosystem in wild Florida, something which will never be repeated in history, as many of these ecosystems no longer exist, having succumbed to “progress.”
Butler paintings are distinctive in their dramatically lit, romanticized portrayals of his beloved wild Florida. His paintings are known to be finely detailed, while exuding an ethereal light in them, giving them an almost sacred quality, the music of his heart. He managed in his autobiography, just as he did in his art, to strike a balance in celebrating wild Florida, while at the same time grieving at her passing.
In reading this book, one cannot help but grow their love and admiration for the swamps, palmetto flats, hardwood forests, rivers, lakes, pine flats, and wildlife of wild Florida. The reader will come to understand not only the art of Robert Butler, but also the very heart of Robert Butler and his love for wild Florida.
As one reviewer of the book said, “This book is one of the best, recently written books on personal development.” Another reviewer stated, “Butler’s story will indicate that he . . . found (his life’s) purpose and defined it. Along the way, he discovered universal laws that he used to give generously back to the world. And you thought this book was about art!”
Just prior to the realization of his dream of seeing his life story in print, Robert Butler laid down his paintbrush for the last time and departed this life on March 19, 2014. However, Florida, as well as the whole world, will forever know that “the Butler was here.”
The editing, cover design, and interior layout for the book were done by Dr. Sheila R. Munoz of Lakeland, Florida.
The 8½ x 11, 400-page, soft cover edition of Timeless Echoes: The Life and Art of Robert Butler will be available through Amazon beginning April 1. The suggested price is $74.99 and qualifies for free shipping. The hard cover, image wrapped edition will be available in about a month and must be directly ordered through the editor, Sheila R. Munoz, at sheila.r.munoz@gmail.com for $94.99 plus shipping. In addition, families who own a Robert Butler painting may order a family Special Edition of Timeless Echoes featuring their personal Robert Butler painting on the cover by contacting the editor, as well.
Butler wrote another book, Highwaymen Artists: An Untold Truth; and a third book, The Cracker Cowman: The Heritage of Florida Ranches as Depicted by Artist Robert Butler, is coming out later this month.
Royalties for all books go to Robert Butler’s wife of more than 50 years, Dorothy Butler.
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