Chris Butler, born and raised on a farm in Idaho, loved drawing from the first days he can remember.  Fortunately, his family never viewed his dream to become an artist as some sort of unrealistic joke.  With his parents’ and four brothers’ encouragement, he left the homestead to attend the College of Southern Idaho and further honed his skills at Utah Sate University.  After completing school in 1974, Chris loaded a 67’ Chevy Impala with nothing more than a stack of artwork, a few bits of clothing, very little cash, high hopes and a stomach full of butterflies and headed west with Los Angeles circled on a roadmap.  To this day, he says it was one of the most frightening, and at times he thought “foolish”, things he’s ever done in his life.  What did he find in California?  The beach, freeways wider than he’d ever seen before, sleepless nights from the noise and-----rejection!

Chris pounded the streets of LA for months and got his first break through the kindness of an Art Director at Grey Advertising, Leland Miawaki.  Leland saw the potential in Chris’s work and contracted Chris to his first commission as an illustrator to do a poster for Honda Motorcycles.  Within the next few years Chris established a reputation as one of the best and most reliable illustrators on the West Coast.  His range of talent extended from pen & ink, to oils, and mixed media to convey humor, drama, and everything in between.  His clients included the Bank of America, United Airlines, A & M Records, Warner Brothers, Budweiser, NBC, Disney, United Artists, Busch Bird Sanctuary and the NFL.

In 1976, a style of art caught Chris’s eye while scanning an ancient Illustrators Annual – art from cut and folded paper.  It intrigued him!  He labored to develop a fresh and exciting version of this style of illustration and challenged himself to push the limits of paper’s properties and exact the engineering needed to make the cuts, folds and scoring of what is now known as Chris’s signature style: Paper Sculpture.

By 1980, Chris gained national recognition in the advertising world, producing art for museums, aquariums, zoos, children’s books, calendars, restaurants, national product logos and for a mural in the Las Vegas Airport.  His clients herald from New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and as far away as Japan and Australia.  His work was seen on posters and billboards and in endless publications.

Chris moved to Boulder in 1981 and met a beautiful woman who became the love of his life – Krista.  He is forever thankful to her for bringing the second love of his life into this world - his daughter Kassi – who he claims is the best work of art he’s ever created!

In Boulder, Chris also met a brilliant photographer Bill Ervin.  Skillful photography is critically important to capture the shadows of Chris’s Paper Sculpture images to make them dance.  On his 25 year relationship with Bill, Chris reflects, “A person can’t create a fine sculpture without the proper tools!  Bill is one of the most important tools I’ve got!”  Through Bill’s expertise and knowledge of lighting, multiple exposures and special effects, Chris was able to elevate his work to new levels.  A dolphin rises to extreme heights through 13 exposures, movement came to a carousel horse, stars and eyes twinkle, lightning flashes, fish literally swim through bubbles and the Devil engulfs himself in flames.  The possibilities are endless.