Float Like a Butterfly and Sting Like a Bee
This commission piece has meant a lot to me, as I was given an opportunity to paint one of my childhood heroes.
I’m excited to share this painting of Muhammad Ali – delivered today to Lawrence Montgomery, whose grandfather was the next-door neighbor of “the Greatest” when he was known as Cassius Clay.
Float Like a Butterfly – Sting Like a Bee
50” x 50”
Oil on linen
Please take a moment to read the narrative.
Float Like a Butterfly—Sting Like a Bee
In this painting, Muhammad Ali stands not just as a boxer, but as a symbol of power, protest, and purpose.
His childhood home sits adjacent to that of Lawrence Montgomery Jr. — connected by sidewalks and two roads shaped like arteries — pumping life through the chambers of memory and legacy.
A yellow school bus, reminiscent of one that Ali once chased while training his body and will, races down a historic pathway in Louisville, Kentucky.
Around his ankles, a ribbon proclaims, “The real enemy of my people is here.” This is representative of the five-year ban he bore for standing firm in his convictions regarding his opposition of the Vietnam War.
A gold belt buckle, etched with the Black Lives Matter symbol, glows defiantly — a bridge between two men who came of age in the same time, on the same streets, carrying the same fire for justice. Both Muhammad Ali and Lawrence Montgomery Jr. stood in the current of the Civil Rights Movement, their voices echoing the same demand for dignity and equality. The buckle binds their legacies — a shared emblem of courage, conviction, and the unbroken fight for freedom.
Three jasmine flowers bloom nearby, evoking Ali’s Muslim faith.
Lawrence lifts a baloney sandwich — payment once offered to a young Cassius Clay in exchange for babysitting — but now serves as a token of shared history.
Together, all of these elements beat with purpose. Muhammad Ali didn’t just fight in the ring — he fought for truth — floating and stinging for justice.
Interview | Artist Close Up
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https://www.artistcloseup.com/blog/interview-keith-runkle
My interview dropped today. Enjoy. Please feel free to share it.
Typically, I put one foot in front of the other and then at the very end add a little P ZAZ!
