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		Rajah Brooke's Birdwing

During that part of his youth spent in the jungles of Sumatra, Mark Simmons developed a deep love for the beauty of Southeast Asian butterflies. He adopted one butterfly, the spectacular and rare Rajah Brooke's Birdwing as his personal totem. While only occasionally the overt subject of his work, the image of a butterfly can frequently be found subtly imbedded in many of his paintings.
 

The Rajah Brooke's Birdwing was named after James Brooke, a British adventurer of the early 1800's. Brooke was born in India in 1803, of English parents. After active service in Burma, he retired from the army of the East India Company. He sailed (1838) for Borneo, and on the west coast there he assisted Muda Hassim, uncle of the reigning sultan, to suppress rebel Dyak tribes. For his services he was made rajah of Sarawak on Borneo by the sultan of Brunei. Brookes proceeded to create a government and to put down head-hunting and piracy.