Butterfly Project

Butterfly mania!

2011-11-15T22:01:00.000-05:00

Take a look at all of the beautiful butterflies!
Come to the Calusa Nature Center to see them in person.

Newest butterflies to join the swarm

2011-10-31T09:44:00.001-04:00

October 31, 2011

I had another donation from an artist living in Indiana recently. Rayna Clark, an artist and soon to be published author sent me three butterflies for the mural. The butterflies came late to the project but when Rayna emailed me and asked if she could participate, I couldn't refuse her!

I installed the butterflies last weekend and grouted them yesterday while I was at the Calusa Nature Center for the center's Friendly Forest event. I put them on a column right under the project's business card holder. They are sure to grab the attention of the visitors there.

Click here to read more about the festivities at this weekend's Friendly Forest event at Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium.

Butterfly crafts inspired by the art installation

2011-10-24T10:20:00.002-04:00

I volunteered at the Calusa Nature Center's Friendly Forest event this past weekend.

Read about the event and view photos of the butterfly crafts here.

A commemorative butterfly awaits installation

2011-09-15T19:14:00.000-04:00

September 15, 2011

This week Margie, a visitor of the Calusa Nature Center, purchased a commemorative butterfly for a friend that died of cancer recently. She said that she had wanted to do something for her friend but nothing had felt right until she discovered the butterflies.

I created a 5 inch butterfly using mostly pink stained glass with some yellow, blue and white accents...her friend's favorite colors. The name "Lyndell" was added to the wing to identify the commemorative butterfly.

There is plenty of shimmering opalescent glass and blue mirror in there to catch the light and the head of the butterfly is made from a dichroic glass cabochon.

I'll be adding it to the wall soon.

Commemorative butterflies purchased through the Buy-a-Butterfly Program also receive their own page on this blog. Here is Margie and Lyndell's page.

Interested in commemorating a loved with with a mosaic butterfly? Read more about the program here.

Project Press: News-Press coverage!

2011-09-04T11:33:00.001-04:00

September 4, 2011

© Terry Allen Williams/news-press.com

The Fort Myers News-Press featured the Calusa Nature Center in an article in the Tropicalia section this morning. The story mentions all of the new animals and attractions that the center has (no mention of Buffalo Bill!) and also mentions the new mosaic installation.

We're hoping all of the amazing butterflies will help draw in new visitors and potentially bring in donations that will ultimately help the center care for the animals and add new programs.

The Butterfly Project is still under construction. I have several more butterflies to install and still need to finish the grouting. I also have a new tile sign that I will install later this week that will give visitors more information about the mural.

Here's a photo of the unfinished sign. I'm going to add flowers and some tile around the edges to brighten it up.

Tiles made by Mosaic Monkey on Etsy

Once the mural is completely finished I will write a press release and contact the local newspapers in order to bring attention to the collaborative aspect of the project. Even though I have completed all of the installation work, the project would not have been possible without the collaboration of the 90 artists that donated artwork.

I'm hoping to have everything finished by the 15th of September. That means putting in extra time in the next two weeks.

(1) Butterfly Donations

2011-08-31T10:00:00.000-04:00

July 20, 2011

Some of the mosaic butterflies have started arriving!

For ease of installation, the designs were all created on mosaic mesh. The tesserae is glued directly onto the mesh and then the completed mosaic is sandwiched between cardboard and shipped to me.

Here are some of the first to arrive..(the first one is mine.)

I created the alligator/butterfly combo in honor of my teenage son who volunteers at the Calusa Nature Center.

Gator-fly © Eve Lynch - Kraken Mosaics

Artist Robin Indar donated four butterflies created using iridescent tile, thrift store carnival glass and her handmade ceramic tiles.

Artist Amy Woodward donated four butterflies made using colorful venetian glass tile.

Artist Floy Height donated three petite butterflies made from fused glass bits, millefiori and found objects. The fused glass bits were made by artist Teri Sokoloff of Frog Hollow Glass.


© Floy Height

Artist Doreen Bell donated this iridescent purple butterfly made with stained glass, millefiori and an assortment of beads, rhinestones and glass shapes. (She loved creating this butterfly so much that she made four more that she will make garden gazing balls with.)

Artist Kathleen McKenna donated four butterflies made with iridescent stained glass and recycled china. Her small blue butterfly shown at the top is made with tiny glass footprint tiles turned outward!

Artist Sherry Moon (top image) donated a pretty purple butterfly made with mottled stained glass, beads and a sea shell body.

Artist Susie Turlington (bottom image) donated the bright orange butterfly with a fused glass body.

(2) Butterfly donations

2011-08-30T16:57:00.000-04:00

July 20, 2011

More butterflies fluttered in this afternoon...

Artist Lynn Dubnicka donated two beautifully made butterflies created using stained glass and glitter tiles.

Artist Katie Waller got together with friends Anne Banton, Pat Spano, Marie Cashion & Coe Chamberlain and threw a mosaic making party!

The group created the following gaggle of butterflies...

And I finished up my second butterfly using stained glass, millefiori, handmade ceramic shards and small dichroic cabs. This will be my second skelly-fly.

Take a look at (or purchase!) my first skeleton butterfly here. (Don't get too creeped out by the idea of a skeleton butterfly, the Mexican culture believes that Monarch butterflies bear the spirits of the departed.)

I've been notified that more butterflies have begun their journey to South Florida, so stay posted for more photos!

(3) Butterfly Donations

2011-08-29T12:36:00.000-04:00

July 21, 2011

The award for the most prolific butterfly maker goes to...Cindi Buhrig!...who donated 7 beautiful butterflies for the project.


Aren't You Orange © Cindi Buhrig

Green Spotted Sunshine-a-fly © Cindi Buhrig

Swirly-fly © Cindi Buhrig

Optic Drop Fly © Cindi Buhrig

Filler Love Flies © Cindi Buhrig

(4) Butterfly donations

2011-08-28T18:51:00.000-04:00

July 22, 2011

Today I completed my fourth whimsical butterfly...and I use the term "butterfly" loosely.

I call this critter "The Aztec God of Winged Creatures". The small mosaic is about 4 inches across and is made mostly of iridescent glass accented with millefiori slices, dichroic cabs and some navy blue mirror glass.

Did you know that the Aztecs believed that Monarch butterflies were the spirits of fallen warriors dressed in battle colors?

Aztec God of Winged Creatures © Eve Lynch

Artist Susan Walden donated two butterflies made with stained glass, iridized glass, glass gems and Van Gogh glass. The bottom butterfly, titled Joseph Fly, represents the Coat of Many Colors.

Flitter Fly © Susan Walden

Joseph Fly © Eve Lynch

Artist Ilona Bryan's donation arrived from England. Her large butterfly (7" across x 9" tall) is made with ceramic tile, venetian glass tile and glass gems.

There are lots of photos floating around of the other butterfly donations that are destined to be included in the project so I suppose I'll be getting some more in the mail in the next few days.

I have two more unusual butterflies in the works too so stay posted!

(5) Butterfly donations

2011-08-27T16:13:00.000-04:00

July 25, 2011

Today's mailbox was stuffed full with more beautiful butterflies!

Artist Jessey Lucas donated five butterflies all made with a combination of stained glass and glass tile.

And artist Silva Hayes donated three butterflies made with stained glass and detailed with a black and white china plate along the rim.

I love the primary colors mixed with the black and white edges!

(6) Installation day

2011-08-26T22:15:00.002-04:00

August 26, 2011

With the 3 foot "happy gator" finally installed on the wall at the Calusa Nature Center, the butterfly installation is finally beginning to look like what I designed in my head almost a month ago. The butterflies are absolutely beautiful but the addition of the large alligator makes the entire design more fun!

The installation

I began the day with the big alligator in two pieces. I was working on it on a large piece of cardboard so I had to peel it away from the plastic wrap and trim the excess mesh away.

Then I covered the back with thinset and applied the tail end to the wall. Then I did the same for the head piece being careful to line up the pieces. I left about an inch of wall space underneath the alligator because I didn't want the mosaic to ever be in danger of sitting in standing water.

Below is a photo of the alligator on the wall. You can still see a small gap between where I joined the tail and head together.

I filled the gap with stained glass to complete the mosaic.

Here's the finished "happy gator"...


Happy Gator installation © 2011 Eve Lynch

When you see the butterfly cloud with the alligator underneath it from far away, it makes more sense now...well, as much sense as a large reptile dreaming of butterflies can make!

Here's a shot of the finished installation from far away. It's hard to miss with all that glittering glass and mirror.

After I installed the big alligator, I added two more butterflies to the cloud above him. One was Danette Polglase's small butterfly (the lime green and blue one right above the alligator's eye). It was just the right size for the bottom of the swarm.

I also added my son Gator's Dragon-fly. It's one of my favorite mosaic butterflies!

After lunch I installed almost all of the remaining butterflies (I have 3 left!) on the two side walls.

Artist Stef Lach's mirrored butterfly on the bottom right...

And five more butterflies on the bottom of this wall.

There were two butterflies that were donated from artist Sharon Olson and Jessie Kuhlman that were created on a cottony mesh. The mesh was so lightweight and flexible that it allowed me to curve their butterflies around the rounded corner of one of the side walls.


© 2011 Eve Lynch

To round off the day I added artist Cindy White's soda pop top butterflies to the walls. They were inspired by her young grandson and they garnered quite a bit of attention!

And I installed a business card holder that I filled with special Butterfly Project business cards that list the blog URL so visitors can read all about the project and the generous artists that donated their time and talent.

Artist Wesley Wong's fused glass butterfly sits just above it.

And now for the animal pics...!

Furry and scaly Calusa Nature Center inhabitants

My all time fave Buffalo Bill, the Sulcata Tortoise. He was abandoned by an owner that could no longer care for him. He's gentle and surprisingly fast when he walks his laps around his enclosure every morning.

Freedom the Bald Eagle...she was hit by a car and can no longer live in the wild. I have a pair of Bald Eagles that live in my neighborhood. They are some of the most amazing birds. Their bright yellow talons are seriously scary!

Perry the Prairie Dog...I love this little guy! He rolls around the center during the day in a giant hamster ball.


Perry the Prairie Dog © 2011 Eve Lynch

Banded Water Snake...a new addition to the nature center. These are common in Florida and are sometimes confused with the venomous Water Moccasin.

And last but not least, the center's Rainbow Boa, an exotic snake native to Central & South America. She/he is moving to another refuge soon so Adam, the center's Education Director, was transferring her to a more suitable container for traveling.

The snake had a beautiful chocolate brown pattern but the species gets the name 'Rainbow Boa" from their iridescent sheen, shown in this photo from Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicrates_cenchria

Looks just like iridized glass!

I'll be back at the center sometime tomorrow afternoon to work on getting the last few butterflies on the wall and to start grouting the two side walls full of butterflies.

More progress pics to follow!

(6) Butterfly donations

2011-08-26T10:15:00.000-04:00

July 26, 2011

Last night I finished up two more unusual butterflies for the project.

The first one (pictured below), a Winged Sasquatch, was inspired by one of my early Sasquatch artworks titled Peace, Love & Hairiness, completed in 2008.

He's about 4" wide and 5" tall, made with stained glass, millefiori slices and dichroic glass bubbles.

Winged Sasquatch © Eve Lynch

The second one (below) is a small glam rock butterfly inspired by my 80's rock days. (I once did an entire high heel like this!)

It's 5" wide and about 1.5" tall, made with opalescent pink & lime glass, millefiori slices and a dichroic glass bubble - it positively shimmers when the light hits it!

Glam Rock butterfly © Eve Lynch

Van Halen anyone?

(7) Butterfly donations

2011-08-25T19:13:00.000-04:00

July 27, 2011

Today artist Helen Schloss-Griffin's three butterflies arrived.

She did a tongue-in-cheek "Pig-fly", which I just love...

She also created two other butterflies, one using stained glass and the other using sea glass and sea shells.

I am taking a break from butterfly making for the time being as I received a commission for a Winged Sasquatch and I'm trying to finish it up by the weekend.

(Want one too? Email me for details!)

After that I have two more small zebra striped butterflies planned for the project.

There are several more batches of butterflies criss-crossing the country on their way to Florida. Stay posted for pics!

The Dragon-fly emerges and other butterfly related news

2011-08-24T18:36:00.003-04:00

August 24, 2011

I finished up my son's Dragon-fly mosaic today. He sketched it for me a few weeks ago and I converted it into a mosaic for the mural using stained glass.

Here is the original sketch:

And here is the finished mosaic:

The eye is made from a tiny piece of a dichroic glass cabochon that I cut to size. The wings aren't nearly as red-orange as they look here. I couldn't get the colors to ring true on my photo editing program!

I'll be adding this "butterfly" to the wall the next time I'm up at the Calusa Nature Center...maybe this coming Friday or over the weekend.

I also squeezed in a little bit of work on the big alligator that will go underneath the main butterfly cloud. As I was working on it, I thought I was making decent progress but I can see from the photo below that I still have a lot of mosaicing to go!

Luckily the glass pieces are much larger than usual.

Still more work to do!

In other butterfly related news...

I have been so busy with The Butterfly Project installation that I thought I was going to miss the local Zombicon deadline this year.

I've been exhibiting undead artwork at the Dark Art show that coincides with Fort Myers' Zombicon for the last 3 years and I was unhappy that I was going to break my streak. I just didn't think that I was going to have time to make the September 1st deadline.

And then it hit me...zombie butterflies!

Here's what resulted from that epiphany...

Both necklaces are available in my Etsy Shop until late September!

Also of note, artist Silva Hayes was so enamored with making butterflies that she made one for her own residence and installed it on the side of her house!

See...

It looks awesome!

I have to admit that I really love making butterflies too. If they start popping up all over town, you'll know where to come looking!

(8) Butterfly donations

2011-08-24T11:23:00.000-04:00

July 28, 2011

This morning I picked up two more butterflies for the project from my local mosaic friend Dorothy Wallace. Her office is a few miles from my house and is full of her artwork. It's like her own little art gallery over there!

Dorothy created her "Stick of Butter-fly" using vitreous tile and mirror.

And her Pink Butterfly using vitreous tile, stained glass and mirror.

I also received artist Emily Jobsz Hogan's butterfly which flew nearly 10,000 miles to Florida from Spence, Australia!

She created her butterfly using stained glass, mirror, millefiori and beads.

(9) Butterfly donations

2011-08-23T18:36:00.000-04:00

July 29, 2011

Two more butterflies flew in from Canada today. Artist Shirley Fralick created this large butterfly using stained glass, millefiori and flat backed marbles.

She used No Days Mosaic Mesh to make these and reported that it was a bit difficult to work with. The mesh is coated with glue that has to be heated in order to bond with the glass. After looking it over I noticed that it is a bit rubbery in texture.

Her donations had a cute little zen tangle penned onto the outside of the parcel. (The butterfly below is made with stained glass and millefiori.)

I also finished two mini butterflies in between working on one of my commissions.

My neon Glam Rock butterfly (below) is made of stained glass, millefiori and has an orange mirrored body and a skull bead head.

Neon Glam Rock Butterfly © Eve Lynch

And I did another Glam Rock butterfly patterned after the Zebra Longwing Butterfly. You can't tell from my photo here but the dark glass is actually an iridescent fuchsia color with iridescent white glass stripes. It is accented with a dichroic bubble and millefiori slices.

This little girl will come to life when the sun catches her wings.

Fuchsia Glam Rock Butterfly © Eve Lynch

More butterflies are scheduled to be arriving soon. Stay tuned!

(10) Butterfly donations

2011-08-22T22:36:00.000-04:00

July 30, 2011

I arrived home this afternoon to find my mailbox stuffed full of butterflies from all over the country!

Artist Lin Schorr donated this beautifully iridescent butterfly made from stained glass.

Artist Sarah Campbell donated this black, white and blue butterfly made with vitreous tile.


© Sarah Campbell

And she also donated these two little "glow flies" made with glow-in-the-dark tiles (that you can buy at Rebel Tiles.) Cool, right?

Artist Eulavon Mallouf sent her "Starryfly" butterfly from Colorado. It's made with iridescent stained glass, and millefiori star beads.

Artist Michele Follger donated a large butterfly (the biggest one yet!) made with stained glass, colored mirror, millefiori and iridescent beads.

And last but not least, artist Lisa Fields Clark donated this shimmering butterfly made with stained glass, gold mirror, beads, glass gems and millefiori.

Many more are on their way!

(11) Butterfly donations

2011-08-21T17:42:00.000-04:00

August 1, 2011

I spent a good portion of the afternoon trimming butterflies away from the mesh backing. This is definitely my least favorite aspect of the project, but a necessary one. I used latex gloves in the beginning of the process and then ditched them to do other things and never bothered to put them back on again. Big mistake! The insides of my fingers are feeling raw & prickly now.

---

Four packages stuffed full of winged creatures arrived late in the afternoon. Here's what tumbled out of the boxes...

Artist Cindy White donated this butterfly made with stained glass and mirror. From the thumbnail it looks like a real butterfly!

She also sent along 4 mini butterflies made with soda can pop tops and glass rods, inspired by her 4 year old grandson, Malachi David Yeager.

Artist Amber Pierce donated two small butterflies made with handmade tile and stained glass. She used some heavy duty mesh for her mosaics. That stuff is bulletproof!

Artist Debs McLaughlin, who participated in my last collaborative mosaic project at the J.H. Messina Children's Center, donated two more stained glass & mirror butterflies titled "Hot Tamale" and "Lagoon Blue". They flew in all the way from beautiful St. Lucia!

(The package had some lovely stamps attached that I will use for one of my paper collages some time in the future.)

And artist Ann (Snort) Shaver donated eleven (!) butterflies for the project. She has a habit of making mosaic chubacubras so I expected something unusual from her.

She donated this black and white skellyfly made with stained glass, glass gems and beads...

...and this assortment of small butterflies made from little glass gems, ceramic leaf tiles and bits from vintage pins.

I've received notice from several other artists that their submissions have been shipped so I should have a bunch more arriving in the coming days.

The deadline for the project is August 10th - just 9 days away!

(12) Butterfly donations

2011-08-20T19:23:00.000-04:00

August 3, 2011

I completed a "made to order" butterfly from Sarah Kraum this afternoon. She sketched the design out and emailed me a copy and I rendered it in stained glass, mirror and millefiori slices.

It's based on the Disney character Dumbo. Cute huh?

I also received a butterfly from artist Carla Dake.

Her butterfly was made with scrap glass from an abandoned glass factory, the Levay Glass Factory in Illinois. She purchased the materials from Etsy seller Vivavivant, who bought the 85,000 square foot factory that used to be a schoolhouse...

It's a long story...you can learn more about it on the Facebook page, The Milton Schoolhouse.

I also received two large butterflies made of stained glass from artist Kathleen Stewart.

(13) Butterfly donations

2011-08-19T17:16:00.000-04:00

August 4, 2011

Artist Linda Biggers donated three beautiful butterflies and four small butterflies to fill out the mural. All of her mosaics were made using stained glass (some iridized), mirror, millefiori and glass gems.

(14) Butterfly donations

2011-08-18T16:53:00.000-04:00

August 5, 2011

A stack of butterfly donations came in today. Seven packages were hand delivered to me with a "thank you for your business" from the mailman.

How's that for customer service?

There's even a butterfly from Russia in that stack! Check out the blue box.

Artist Jean Conner made butterflies with a group of friends and sent a big box filled with 13 mosaics! Here's what was included with her shipment...

That's a lot of butterflies!

Artist Silva Hayes sent along four more small butterflies to fill in gaps in the mural. She already donated three beautiful butterflies two weeks ago. The ones below are made with stained glass (some iridescent) and jewelry parts.

Artist Cindy Sbrissa donated two butterflies...

Her tiger face butterfly was inspired by a tattoo that she has on her ankle.

She also donated this butterfly made with stained glass, millefiori and acrylic doll eyes! Gotta get a bunch of those!

Artist Lori Frank donated these two butterflies made from stained glass.


© Lori Frank

Artist Maria Alvarez-Lundie donated this butterfly made with stained glass and mirror.

Artist Chris Emmert donated this butterfly made with stained glass, mirror and sea shells.

Artist Ilona Fried donated this darling butterfly titled "Buford Worries that He Clashes".

And artist Ekaterina Chumachek sent this butterfly made with stained glass and tiny rhinestones all the way from Moscow City, Russia!

My house is starting to look like a butterfly incubator. There are butterflies all over the place!

I definitely have my work cut out for me at this point. I'll be updating this blog with all of the artists' names and then I'll be cutting butterflies away from the mesh backing. (That's my least favorite part...did I mention that?)

Still more butterflies on the way!

(15) Butterfly donations

2011-08-17T15:00:00.000-04:00

August 6, 2011

I had another arm full of boxes filled with butterflies for the mural today. I'm starting to get a little loopy!

Artist Suzanne Demeules sent me this butterfly made with stained glass and glass rods.

UK artist Helen Nock sent me this cute little butterfly made from stained glass and recycled glass.

She also sent this charming Moth O'Fly and a few teeny butterflies to fill in the mural.

Artist Cecilia Kremer donated this stained glass butterfly based on the song "I'm a little butterfly green, black and blue."

Artist Linda Pieroth Smith donated this colorful butterfly that her 12 year old daughter helped design.

Artist Lee Ann Petropoulos, the Gallery Director & Artist in Residence at the CrazyLake Art Gallery in Greenfield, Indiana donated this butterfly made with stained glass and Van Gogh glass.

And artist Ree Maier donated this large butterfly made with beads, glass gems and handcut china.

Whew!

I still have one more butterfly in the works...my son's Dragon-fly and then I have to finish up a small sign that will go in the center of the butterfly swarm.

There are still a few stragglers in the mail. More pics will be posted when they arrive.

(16) Butterfly donations

2011-08-16T15:00:00.000-04:00

August 8, 2011

I received three more butterfly donations today. The remainder of the mosaics should be arriving in the next few days so stay posted for the last of them.

Artist Yvonne Yaar donated a beautiful (and very large) butterfly made with neon colored fused glass and shimmering dichroic glass.

Artist Julie Reeve donated a butterfly duo made from stained glass (some iridized), glass gems and colored mirror. The small red butterfly is actually part of the design and they are attached.

Artist Britta Kuth from Germany donated this beautiful butterfly made with a variety of sparkling materials. Stained glass, millefiori, glass gems and shapes are all part of the design.

I have a good portion of the butterflies packaged up in boxes for tomorrow's installation.

I'll be sketching the design out on the large wall and then it will just be a matter of deciding what will go where. There are no rules for that part - it will just be combining colors and textures until it all feels right...and then applying the mosaics to the wall using thinset.

I'll be using Mapei Ultraflex 2, a professional-grade polymer-modified mortar that can be used indoors and out. It has a work time of about 2 hours...although I've stretched it a bit in the past.

I anticipate the design phase to be the most time consuming tomorrow. There are so many colors, patterns and textures coming together - it's going to be crazy!

(17) Butterfly donations

2011-08-16T14:00:00.000-04:00

August 10, 2011

Even though today was the deadline for donations for the collaborative art installation, I still have a few coming in. Two packages were waiting for me this afternoon when I arrived back home and a few more are still on the way.

Artist Wesley Wong donated two fused glass butterflies with dichroic glass. I've never worked with fused glass before so I was surprised to see how heavy it is.

Wesley just finished a 24" x 30" artwork featuring a bunch of his fused glass butterflies so I was happy that he could send some along for the project.

I also received a donation from artist Roxanne DeMeyer. She sent two butterflies made from stained glass.

(18) Butterfly donations

2011-08-16T12:00:00.000-04:00

August 11, 2011

I had a bundle of packages waiting for me when I got home. The idea of more and more coming makes me a bit nervous!

Today I received artist Cheri Bosela's donations. She sent the most amazing frogger-fly plus several more butterfly mosaics. Look at all that mille!

Inspired by the Florida Gators...


© Cheri Bosela

Cheri's sister Darlene Tsen also created one for the project...

Artist Jessica Sanders donated these butterflies made with stained glass and beads.

UK artist Kate Rattray and her daughter Daisy donated four butterflies made from stained glass, mirror and vitreous tile.

And artist Deb Lewis and her group of students and art studio instructors sent 13 butterflies in all.

© Deb Lewis, Michele Wilson, Paige Winans, Tracy Kiersztyn, Gerry Taylor, Kathi Deeter, Lori Geisler, Patricia Clark, Sharon Chitwood, Jeni Cook and Dawn Bailey

Still a few more to come...