Continuing the reblog from the instagram story I'm posting on my feed. Check out @bayfibers on Instagram
The Eastern Tailed Blue
The Eastern Tailed Blue, number 7 on the trail.
The project story pt.7:
I mentioned before that butterflies were a natural connection for the project theme of rebirth in 2021, but I admittedly was no expert in entomology before this project took off. Studying each one and making a careful plan of color sequences helps commit them to memory, which is one of the main reasons I love wildlife illustration- whether fish, birds or bugs. Again, I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure I've ID'ed a few of these little eastern tailed blue butterflies since painting them!
The Red Spotted Purple
The Red Spotted Purple- butterfly number 6 on the Leonardtown butterfly trail (which has a ribbon cutting this weekend!)
The project story part 8:
Just what is the butterfly trail? Well you'll just have to come see for yourself... But if you can't make it, the town has adopted the butterfly symbol as it's new (official? unofficial?) mascot, and the banners are now lining the streets to take you on a brief self paced tour of the major interest points in town, including the wharf, winery, restaurants, and my favorite- the bars.
The project story pt. 9:
Vinyl banners for the trail? Yep!
One of the biggest challenges with this installation was wrestling with the fact that this project had a life span to it and I had to let each piece out there to live its best life. When I finish and prepare pieces for a home or wall, the treatments I use give it a longevity meant to last. Outdoors, we're fighting an unwinnable battle- with the sun. Knowing that going into the project, we were able to plan for the future by scanning and printing the designs on vinyl as well as using the original canvas pieces. The benefits are two fold- we could create a more widespread presentation with additional pieces at a manageable cost, and also allow the pieces to be switched out as needed or in the future.
Follow more about the story @bayfibers oh, and prints are up in the shop, www.bayfibersstudio.com/bugs