Insect Studies

 or

"Tis the Season... and I Don't Mean Christmas!'

Cicada

Termite

Butterfly

Beetle

Phylum, Class, Order

Mosquito

Mayfly

Earwig

Caddisfly

Bumble Bee

Bug

House Fly

Flea

Hessian Fly

Grasshopper

Midge

Deer Fly

Fire Fly

Wasp Ant Bee

Dragon Fly

Stone Fly

Black Fly

Damsel Fly

Dobson Fly

I find Insects exceedingly interesting... especially in terms of drawing.. the good, the bad and the ugly.

...their structures, wings, antennae, eyes, legs, every part of them... pretty amazing...  so many tiny distinct parts.... like little patterns.....so much variety...

I mean, imagine if there were this many varieties of Human Beings.... Just Imagine... 

 but NO, there's only One of us.. all the same under the skin....  

when you think of it that way there is probably much more chance of survival for insects than for us human beings, as one deadly virus could wipe all of us out because we are only one species.

Insects have a definite advantage in the long run.
.. but till then, the birds, frogs and snakes can eat all the bad ones they want.

approx. 9" x 12", pen, ink, wash, brush in my sketchbook.

Gwen Buchanan, Desideratum Art and Jewelry Studio, New Brunswick, Canada

Sterling Silver Dragonfly on Copper Square

 

I have been making bugs... using my pen and my torch...

I like to study bugs.... 

they are small,  with lots of delicate working parts, amazingly strong for their size... 

some nasty, some nice... 

and there are so many different kinds... and they do so many different things... 

Bugs are just all around very  interesting subjects to get to know more about..

We designed and created the sterling silver  Dragonfly  on copper square early in the year

and it is time to build up stock again.. not a good season to be running out of popular designs...

although I have to admit there are a few other styles that I am very low on,

if not completely out of at the moment..

and I should have had more made...  but alas... time... energy....... a good book.

Lots of tiny Dragonfly parts all prepared... cut, shaped and hammered ... 

little dragonfly wings, little dragonfly bodies and little tiny silver grains for the dragonfly eyes... 

That is one in the middle, there's more in a little wooden dish to the left... 

 We usually split up the jobs..  

Johns' hands are stronger than mine, so he gets to handcut all the copper squares

 and do the heavy hammering.. 

I layout all the tiny parts and set them up..  

 ... sometimes my tools or my big hands have accidentally knocked my board 

.. Not a good day when that happens...

Here they are all covered in carbon.. it has to be removed

  but the texture and color is gives for taking a photograph suits my fancy ...

 I really love this contrast.

and

I absolutely Love the Pattern they make all lined up like that...

I imagine quilt patterns, floor tiles, rugs, fabric ...

I start rearranging them

to see what they might look like with all there tails touching 

or their little pairs of eyes all staring at each other

 Then I am imagining them all divided by long bands of another metal 

or fabric if they are a quilt  and what kind of borders could be invented.. 

 or maybe designs inlaid in wood.. or a surround for a fireplace 

or borders around the edge of an illuminated book.........

oh once it starts it is hard to go back to work... 

 the Dragonflies are distracting me from the Dragonflies...

 but I'm sure you know what it's like 

and how one thing leads to another and another....

  

 

Back to reality... 

Now they are ready for the pickle pot

-  a nice name for being dunked in a scalding acid bath - which will remove all the built up carbon. 

  John drills holes in the tops with the flex shaft...

  We sand and polish them in the vibratory tumbler.

Then I make the earwires and attach them 

and we are all stocked up again...

$25.00 pr.     ...approx.  1½" from top of ear wire to bottom of copper square
...bug drawings (in first photograph)  from my sketchbook 

  Pearl Jam...  "BUGS" 

All handmade at our DESIDERATUM Art Jewelry studio 

in St. Martins, on the Bay of Fundy,  New Brunswick, Canada

...click for more of our Whimsical designs

The Wolf Spider

My son Max has a great fondness for Spiders... I believe he could identify almost any spider that was put in front of him and if not, I know he would soon find out..... One of his favourite species are the Wolf Spiders... He likes their habits and has taught me all I know about them... things like, they don't spin webs.... or make a nest or shelter.... they hide out in leaf litter by day... and are active hunters at night....

They have 8 eyes... 4 large and 4 small... and have excellent eyesight... their markings are varied containing stripes, bands, dots.... they have lots of hairs ... coloring is in the range of gray, brown, and khaki... ¼" to 1½" long... habitat is widespread... worldwide...

...the males perform a courtship dance of leg-lifting for the females... she only accepts him if she likes his dancing... now there is an amusing way of selecting a partner.........

hey, when I come to think about it, maybe we are not that different......... Bet you never knew we had something in common with a spider...

anyway, back to the story...





Max is forever lugging one of these spiders around ... watching one closely... or playing with one.. in the summer that is... of course, I'm dreaming of summer 'round about now...

When Max was learning at home, I let him learn about whatever he wanted... I had no classes... he set his own learning style... I let him indulge his interests as long as he wanted... he would spend hour after hour out in the fields, and he got to know nature close up... he was constantly showing me the things he would discover... It is such a great way for children to learn...






I must admit, I like Spiders too... I would never purposely kill a spider... they are so little and delicate.....

Spiders are beneficial insects... eating many pests such as aphids and flies.

If you have ever seen a spider carrying around its large egg sac attached to its rear spinnerets, that was a Mother Wolf Spider.... They don't bite humans... They are shy and prefer to run away if disturbed...

One thing I can never figure out is... why are people frightened of spiders?.... of course I do not live in a part of the world that has poisonous spiders or I would probably be of a different opinion... around here there is no need to worry about them at all... so why????

... and also... why are people afraid of spiders webs? they are amazing structures...... I mean why in the world would anyone be scared of webs?...................ahhh, the mysteries of Fear....






...can you imagine if you had 8 eyes and 8 arms, what you could accomplish...


...remember when you wished you had eyes in the back of your head.......... I do...






...Wolf Spider watercolors from my sketch book... approx. 4"x 4" each... pen and ink and watercolor wash...

Gratefulness

"As you wander through life,
whatever be your goal,
Keep your eye upon the donut,
And not upon the hole!"

I do not know who wrote this little rhyme but I like it... it makes me smile...

These are old pictures from a poster, my son, Max made when he was much younger.... it was a little project of things that meant something special to him...

When Max was 4, we saw a butterfly sitting on a flower in the garden in late September... it just stayed there on that flower for several days... when we examined closer to see why it never left, we discovered it had a problem with its wings and could not fly...

As it was getting cold and rainy we felt sorry for the little thing, just sitting there, so we brought the butterfly and a bouquet of flowers into the house to our kitchen table... we fed him sugar syrup and watched his little tongue unfurl to sip it... it was very long! we let him live there and brought him fresh flowers everyday... sipping syrup for a month and a bit... till his life was over...

We were all sad when the little butterfly died... but we will always be grateful for the closeness, we had the opportunity to share.




Little dog Ziggy, who Max slept with every night since he was 2..... Ziggy was one year older than Max, and his favourite little play friend... Max had spelled out a birthday wish to him, in dog years, with dog kibble on the kitchen floor, that Ziggy promptly ate as soon as I took the picture...




Max also had this newspaper clipping on his poster.... from the Telegraph Journal, Saint John, NB. ... taken December 25, 1993... he was the Christmas baby that year...

He thought it was cool to be a Christmas present........... So did we!

...We even put him under the tree!
.

The Deer Fly

The Deer Fly...Chrysops spp, ... 3/8 - 5/8" long, black with yellowish-green markings on thorax and most of abdomen; wings have distinctive brownish-black pattern; Larva is yellowish-white or greenish with brown rings...

The old "Eve" story raises its ugly head when referring to the Deer Fly..........
...The Female of the species circles their intended victim before settling and immediately biting...
As only the females blade-like, mouth parts are adapted for cutting skin and taking blood from mammals and birds...

Where on the other hand, the sweet Male of the species does not bite... .. they merely drink from pools or flowers...... Ahhhhh!!! How adorable!!!






The habitat of these insects are worldwide in deciduous and mixed forests, meadows, roadsides and suburbs..... near running water and their victims...the mammals and birds of course...






Deer Flies like to pester us during the months of June, July and August... get ready... summers on its way!!!


approx. 2" x 4"....watercolor, ink, brush and pen on 140 lb CP Arches WC paper

.

Black Fly

Diptera Simuliidae known to us as...... the dreaded "Black Fly"... although not always black... for variety they also come in dark brown, reddish-brown, grey or yellowish-orange... which makes them fun to paint but not to be around... as the females require a blood meal before they can lay their eggs.... and the unfortunate victim is usually the nearest warm blooded mammal... namely cats, dogs, birds and us!

Black Flies are found near flowing water where they lay their eggs... the larvae hold fast to stones, twigs, plants and debris above and under water.... by means of hooks or a sucker device at the end of their abdomens... you sometimes see their casings under rocks along streams...



They do not transmit disease to man in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere.... but their bites produce toxic and allergic reactions...

Not a wanted little insect... mostly a general nuisance... when summer finally arrives and it feels just right to be out with your bare skin exposed.................. they come


approx. 2" x 3" pen, ink, watercolor on CP Arches WC paper

Red Flat Bark Beetle

 

Cucujus clavipes...

These insects live in the eastern forests of North America.... their habitat is under the bark of Ash and Poplar, especially of recently felled trees... extremely flat... brightly colored... eggs are laid under bark, where larvae seek prey... actual size of beetle is 10 - 14 mm.

.........It is not so much that I love bugs..... it is that they are fun to draw... as a skull is... It is the exoskeletal form and the stronger lines it affords that I like...

...approx. 3½" x 2" ink, watercolor, gouache, brush, crow quill pen on 140 CP Arches WC paper

at Desideratum Art and Jewelry Studio, St. Martins, New Brunswick, Canada 

The Scarab

The Scarab... or Dung Beetle, was one of the most powerful symbols of Ancient Egypt.

Chalcosoma Atlas ... is one of 3 known species in eastern Asia. The males of the species have horns, which they use to grapple with each other when fighting over females.... Feisty little fellows....

The Scarab known as Plusiotis Resplendens is found in central America.... Their brilliant coloration has made them a much sought after insect by bug collectors. I guess this is The one time to hide your light under a basket, little golden one!

Because of their habit of rolling balls of dung, the scarab represented to the Egyptians, the God of the Morning Sun, Khephri... believing it symbolized the sun rolling across the sky.

...these are tiny watercolors only about 1½" x 2½" on 140 lb arches watercolor paper using india ink, pen, brush , watercolor.

Created at Desideratum Art and Jewelry Studio, St. Martins, New Brunswick, Canada

Dragonfly

The Dragonfly....

...the European Club-tailed Dragonfly to be exact....

..the name refers to the unusually large abdomen of the males, just in front of the apex... giving it a club appearance...

The patrollers of the summer lawn...

back and forth ..... back and forth ....

in rhythmic patterns, almost in grid formation...

monitoring every square inch of the yard and surrounding fields...

Beautiful creatures...

but they surely must appear as "Dragons" in flight to any small unsuspecting insects.

Look out below!

approx. 3" x 5" on 140 lb. arches watercolor paper. I used brush, pen, India ink, washes