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Post by papilio28570 on Mar 27, 2011 15:43:16 GMT -8
This is my first attempt with using flowers and butterflies together. I think it turned out quite well and hope you do too. I became inspired by Clark's beautiful work presented in this forum. I always felt that flowers competed with the butterflies for the viewer's attention and refrained from their use. Additionally, since I sell domes and ship them worldwide, I have learned the hard way that the bugs need to be rigidly mounted on essentially non-movable surfaces, hence, my use of driftwood. In earlier work, I became exposed to the substantial rough handling packages receive in shipping. Even antennae snap off from the shock of packages being dropped or thrown. Double boxing and padding are needed and even that is not always a guarantee of safe arrival. This is artificial cherry which has a fairly stout structure and I've allowed enough room spatially to accommodate kinetic sway which may ensure safe shipping. ....guess I'll find out if a buyer orders it. May be working on larger projects, but I'lm leery of using longer stems of this material in art to be shipped because sway increases exponentially with length. Critique is welcomed. Attachments:
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Post by papilio28570 on Mar 29, 2011 20:12:29 GMT -8
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Post by wolf on Mar 30, 2011 0:50:02 GMT -8
it's nice  |
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Post by anthony on Mar 30, 2011 4:40:27 GMT -8
Very well and thoughtfully done. You should be proud of that.
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Post by dertodesking on Mar 30, 2011 11:47:56 GMT -8
Very nice I'm not normally a fan of this kind of thing (give me a drawer of specimens anyday!) but I do like this - the colour of the flowers does not detract from the beauty of the bugs themselves. Was it difficult mounting the butterflies with their wings "up" like that? I've only ever set anything "on the flat". Did you have to make your own very steeply angled boards or do you have another method? Simon |
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Post by papilio28570 on Mar 30, 2011 14:43:49 GMT -8
Thanks for the kind words from all.
I'll add some pictures of how I mount the butterflies thus. I start out with a museum / crucifix mounted specimen that is well dried. I then rehydrate it for some hours in a relaxing chamber. The chamber has to be deep enough to accommodate the wings relaxing back to an "over the back" position since the butterfly is still on the pin which is stuck into the bottom of the chamber to hold the butterfly off the wet medium. The butterfly is then set deeply into the wide groove of a mounting board. The sides of the board hold the wings in an angled position...the angle depending upon how deeply you set the body into the groove. A size 00 pin placed through the vein along the fore-wing leading edge and into the side of the mounting board allows you to position the fore-wing forward or aft to the desired position. Antennae are help in place with pins crossed underneath to hold them up in a natural position.
See photos below.
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Post by papilio28570 on Mar 30, 2011 14:46:07 GMT -8
Butterfly set low into mounting board groove Attachments:
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Post by papilio28570 on Mar 30, 2011 14:46:37 GMT -8
View from the side Attachments:
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Post by dertodesking on Mar 30, 2011 15:47:02 GMT -8
Thanks for explaining and showing your method  Simon |
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Post by papilio28570 on Aug 4, 2011 21:40:28 GMT -8
Well, I double padded and double boxed this dome and sent it to a fried across the country to see if it could withstand shipping. As I suspected, the flower stalks were not rigid enough and they battered the butterflies into pieces by the time it arrived.
I'll stay with using driftwood and abandon flowers altogether.
Glad I took a picture of it because it was a pretty dome.
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Post by downundermoths on Aug 5, 2011 3:42:35 GMT -8
I liked it too, but there is no way I would have attempted to mail it anywhere...
Barry
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Post by papilio28570 on Aug 5, 2011 17:26:10 GMT -8
Well, it was an experiment to determine whether further pursuit down this path was economically feasible. I may just do them for regional gift shops.
Shipping via US mail or UPS or DHL subjects parcels to very rough handling. I don't know if they throw these parcels or drop them or what. Anyone on this readership work in one of those venues?
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Post by wingedwishes on Aug 13, 2011 15:28:17 GMT -8
I've used flowers but attached them to actual wood so that there is no "bounce back" during shipping. I don't suppose you would share a good dome source? I have had to use baseball holders because the best dome prices I've found are $12 each.
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ckswank
Full Member
Posts: 239
Country: USA
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Post by ckswank on Aug 13, 2011 21:59:41 GMT -8
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