The warm days of summer mean lazing on the lawn outside. Smell the grass and watch insects busily flit from frond to flower. Summer means butterflies and here is the first of two posts about these beautiful and mysterious insects.
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Butterfly earrings.
Who doesn't love butterflies? To most of us, the epitome of a beautiful summer's day is a garden with butterflies flitting between flowers.
We are not so crazy about caterpillars and larva, but humans have a way of blocking out what doesn't suit us.
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Pendant with fly and fruit.
Butterflies only live for a couple of short months, but they can travel literally thousands of miles in that time. The Monarch butterfly travels over 3000 miles (4800 klm) from Canada to Mexico in the fall and then all the way back in the spring. What is the butterflie's navigation system? How does such a small creature fly on average almost 100 miles a day? Why do butterflies do this? We, humans have so much to learn.
Butterflies have symbolised many things in the past. It is easy to see how they symbolise joyous qualities. Egg to caterpillar to larva to pupa and finally the gorgeous insects we admire, it is easy to see how they are a symbol of metamorphosis, change and new beginnings. How about redemption? But they also symbolise other qualities such as the spirit. When you see a butterfly in a work of art from previous centuries, it is not merely a pretty feature, it is symbolic of the spirit world and a highly charged religious image.
Butterflies feature in songs. Take a brief look at the internet and you will see dozens of titles featuring these wonderous insects. Every language must have songs about butterflies for children - my own children grew up singing about butterflies.
#6103 winged woman.
Possibly most wonderful of all is jewelry made during the late 19th to early 20th century by the Art Nouveau jewellers. They incorporated features of butterflies with those of other creatures, including human beings. Lalique and other French jewellers of the late 19th century, especially the Art Nouveau jewellers made jewelry that metamorphosized from women to butterflies. Or is it vice versa? They had no problem combining features of human beings with insects. Such jewelry is almost impossible to find these days, but the search is well-worth it. It is jewelry made at the height of French artistry and great technical skill. 
a more affordable silver version of Art Nouveau jewelry.
Next week we will look at kinds of butterfly jewelry.
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