Garden Visitors

My garden is always full of surprises from year to year. Sometimes it's a plant that thrives particularly well. Other times it's the disappointment of a plant that fails. And occasionally it's a magical occurrence like the visits by dozens and dozens of painted lady butterflies the past several weeks.

We had an unusually mild September and early October in the Montreal region. Apparently those warm temperatures enticed painted lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui) on their migratory path to descend and stay a while. It was written about in a local newspaper.

When I would go out the back door into the garden, there would momentarily be a small cloud of butterflies in the air as they left the flowers they were on and then went to others. I wish I had been able to capture an image of their numbers!

I first noticed them on my sedum spectabile plants.

Then I found them on my echinacea.

They really liked my zinnias.

They really, REALLY liked my zinnias! If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my video of a very happy painted lady butterfly flitting about on my zinnias.

And what do you do when blessed by such beautiful garden visitors? Why you paint one of course!

I found one on the ground (poor thing) and was able to bring it into my studio to use as my model.
Here is my watercolor painting in its early stages and, underneath, in its final form.

When you look at a painted lady butterfly, the markings look kind of random and splotchy. It was only through close observation that I realized how intricate some of the markings were. In my painting, I tried to honour the details while still keeping a painterly feeling.

I love how it turned out and now have both prints and note cards available in my shop. I really hope you like them!

If you haven't visited my shop in a while, I hope you will have a peek. I've been busy adding new prints and cards. 🦋

Butterflies

There are butterflies everywhere lately. In the garden. Along pathways. In fields. It makes for wonderfully lively walks. Add to that swirling leaves. Autumn is bursting with movement and colour.

I was very lucky to get a few photos of these gorgeous butterflies (Painted Lady or Vanessa cardui) when they visited my garden a week ago. They are very shy and would flit away as soon as I got anywhere near them. I finally ran into the house and got my long-range lens. It's so heavy that I had to stay very, very still and try not to shake (no time to run and get my tripod) but I am so happy with how these photos turned out. I have never painted a butterfly before. I am definitely going to try one.

And then I found this beautiful quote:

The butterfly is a flying flower,
The flower is a tethered butterfly.

Ponce Denis Échouchard Lebrun (translation)

No wonder I love them both.

A special note:  With these butterfly images, I am also sending love to my brother-in-law Alan, sister Nancy and nieces Erica and Sydney. Alan's brother Mark passed away this week at the age of 50 from melanoma. We are thinking about you all. Mark's obituary recounted his life as a pilot but mostly as a husband, involved citizen and devoted dad of three girls. It ended with this simple, poignant message: wear sunscreen.