Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Was that a butterfly?



I always feel like I can't never get enough of butterflies. They just go so fast that I get this feeling that I’ve seen something beautiful but I cannot tell exactly how it looks. I can talk about its colors in general but that’s it! No details of the shape of the wings or anything else. On two different occasions I’ve been lucky enough to see the gorgeous Morpho butterfly in Costa Rica: you can only see this metallic blue flash going around, so it is hard to believe it is a butterfly. Amazing!!

Butterflies inside of a cage hanging on the wall are not appealing to me. That’s the best moment to see all their magnificent colors, but the magic is lost. The sense that this gorgeous creature is going to fly away and the urge to enjoy their beauty as fast as you can is gone. But, that’s just me, of course.

Of all the butterflies in the world perhaps the most well known are the Monarchs that migrate very long distances. Because the distance traveled is longer than their lifespan, in some cases the migration includes two or three generations of butterflies. They are indeed amazing creatures.

If you are a fan of butterflies and want to attract them to your garden you are going to need the right plants for that. Texas A&M University has information on how to do this and you can also find more information on this topic at your library:

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The artist Damian Hurst collects butterflies. The curator at the Goss Michael Gallery in Dallas says that he imports them and raises them in a greenhouse of sorts in England. I am afraid you would not like his butterfly art pieces either.

~ Jane

Anonymous said...

Cool post. Thanks!

Aleph said...

Hello there Jane. I did my homework and look for his paintings. They are beautiful but I don't like that he is using real butterflies in them. There is a lot of butterfly trafficking going on. Lately some countries were importing butterflies to be released at events like weddings or birthdays but is anyone thinking what would happen to those butterflies? They won't survive! Very sad.
The goal of an artist I know, is to copy the colors and textures of butterflies, she does an amazing job! I am sure Damian Hirst could do that too.

Anonymous said...

I saw the butterfly pieces @ the Goss Michael Gallery with my own eyes. That is where I found out about the butterflies he collects. He does alot of art pieces using dead animals, etc. Damien Hirst. I actually spelled his name incorrectly. Sorry about that.

~ Jane