Butterflies ...

I can't explain it but butterflies are popping up in many recent collages. So, I decided it was time to create a few pieces that focused on butterflies. Initially, I was inspired by a simple, crafty greeting card with a triple-layered butterfly that I spotted in a catalog retrieved by a friend from a recycling bin. "I can do that," I told myself, thinking I was getting into a relatively easy series. Wrong. As you will see in the photos that follow, "easy" isn't in my vocabulary. Ignore the mats, I use them as cropping devices.

The original easy idea (above). Stacked butterfly. Background. Piece o' cake.

Larger version. I've been itching to use the 12" x 12" mats bought last month. The background is from a vintage book on drawing animals, the quote is from a photographic essay about butterflies and the red butterfly was clipped from a recycled greeting card in the stash. Oh, the main butterfly; it was cut from a combo of a greeting card, a catalog and vintage wallpaper.

  
While on my butterfly binge, I cut four large butterflies from a variety of sources. This one is typographic and placed on a calligraphic background from a 19th century book on penmanship. It's in a shadow box and that was the final evolution of three of the pieces. I've almost wrapped them up and you'll be seeing the finished collages within the next few days.