Stolen Time

Before packing them up, I thought I'd post the butterflies I've been working on for Houston's Holocaust Museum's exhibit and keep blabbing about.



I painted, stamped, embossed the watercolor paper. This took somewhere between a week and three months, I can't remember. I was stealing time from twelve other projects, but this one kept meandering through my mind. Then I cut out the butterflies in pairs with the little Cutter Bees. Another weekend or two. Before joining them, I put wires between the two butterfly sides, giving them a bit of an armature, and also allowing them to be bent slightly, to mimic wing movement if desired. It's hard to show that. I tried in these pictures, but was less than successful.





I then sealed the two painted sides together and left them under something heavy for about a day, I think. Then I glazed over them them with gloss gel for a week or two, and then went around the edges with some really cool markers I got, on a recommendation from Kelsey.

I struggled for a long time (less than a year or so) about how to adorn these beyond what you see here. But nothing seemed right. Not ribbon, not pen work, not journaling or glitter or representational imagery. It seemed to me as though they were ready, just like this. So, I stopped thinking, after about a month. They were an honor to work on, and a meditation.

Just a reminder, sort of...to reflect with gratitude upon how far you've come, how much you love, how precious it is.
I try to remind myself more often.