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.

Forget Me Not

What a strange week it's been. It began with a very sad event. Very early Monday morning, the mother of my best friend died.

Then on Tuesday, a bus from my daughters' school was involved in a terrible accident. The 22-year-old car driver, who hit the bus head-on, died on impact. The school bus ended up in the ditch. It was not my daughters' bus, but one of Chloé's best friends was on it as well as many class- and schoolmates. Thankfully there were only minor injuries among the teenagers, but the moments of the accident were terrifying for them and afterwards they were subject to a gruesome accident scene that had more in common with a war-torn country than the quiet suburbs where we live. In the moments after impact, the teenagers on the bus and passersby reacted with speed and courage. Police and ambulances arrived quickly. Chloé's friend called her within minutes of arriving home to share what she had just lived through.

So it has been a week full of emails and phone calls, tears and hugs. Reminders of the fragility of life yet also the strength of friendship and the importance of family. Fear and courage. Sadness and comfort. And even smiles and laughter.

Yesterday was the funeral of my friend's mother and, oddly, that helped the week to end well. Chloé decided to come with me, as my friend is like family to us. Emma would have come if she hadn't had two tests that day.

My friend is the youngest of six children and they prepared a service that was touching and beautiful for their mother. I had only met her once. They told the story of a feisty 90-year-old woman who led a full and interesting life yet had some regrets. They spoke of her love of music, nature and her family. They also talked of characteristics that were sometimes hard for the family. As I sat there absorbing the words, I thought this is a real person they are talking about.  There was a bagpipe that played at the beginning and end of the service and a beautiful soloist who sang uplifting songs. It was so moving to be a part of this poignant, honest service. There was sadness in the church but also so much love. I kept thinking about it even hours later.

After the funeral and reception, it seemed too late for Chloé to go back to school, so we went for a walk with Meeko instead.

The sun was shining. There were beautiful green leaves, flowers and butterflies. We took photos. We got down on our knees so that we could see the wild strawberry blossoms and wood violets better. We picked forget-me-nots.  There were Red Admiral butterflies everywhere. One of them kept circling back to Chloé. Maybe there have been other days when we've walked and seen flowers and butterflies, but yesterday everything seemed more beautiful.

The flower photos were taken by me; all of the rest of the beautiful photos were taken by Chloé.