The butterflies are nearly complete, with only a few remaining finishing touches. I am waiting for the copper to patina to a nice rosy-brown; then, I will apply wax to the copper to stop the oxidation and additional color change. The last step is to form the structural ribbon and attach the butterflies. I struggled…

I was delighted to find this sizable monarch caterpillar in the milkweed by my studio door. Unfortunately, after two days, it vanished. I examined the milkweed but could not locate a chrysalis. The upside is that I discovered four smaller monarch caterpillars on the same plant yesterday. I am optimistic about finding several chrysalides in…

Objects resulting from inspiration, observation, and creativity infused with science, engineering, and experimentation.  This week, I have been in production mode, transitioning sketches on paper into art in metal. The object above is an experiment designed to “engineer” the process of connecting butterfly parts to a structural frame. The experiment involved connecting multiple pieces of…