design | architecture | sustainability

It it with much delight (and a little sad too) that I have completed the butterfly project! It has been an incredible journey, one that I would not have been able to travel without the help and support of many. First my husband, for his endless patience while hunting the city for the material, paint, brush, that may be required for my artistic pursuits, my family for their help in hand making and support, to BJC Pediatric Hospice and Palliative care for letting me attend Stepping Stones Camp, to the children who were willing to share their stories, to Daltile and MAPEI for their generous material donation, and to Wings in the City for creating such an amazing event. Thank you.

Now a few more fun glimpses and details before the big reveal, October 10th. Check out the post on directions here.

Thanks again everyone. I can’t wait to see all the butterflies in Forest Park. I hope you can come visit! I will be at the park from 1-4 PM on Sunday. The tile are covered for the clear coat.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Labor Day weekend. I have a few new photos of the Wings in the City butterfly base and handprint progress!! I decided on a playful base, the mimicked roots. Each of the dots represents the 59 children and their cabin colors from the Stepping Stones Grief camp.

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Amazingly, the wonderful people at BJC found a way for me to include 59 handprints on the butterfly wings. (That 15 prints a wing, front and back).

My design was to have the large handprints move to smaller handprints as they move up the wing for visual balance. It took a little clever spacing, but it looks like I have everything figured out! (For the children who participated, I have a master sketch at home, to show you your handprint in case you can’t find it on the final piece.)

I chose bright colors to tie the whole piece together, the hands transition from red to yellow from the base of the wing to top respectfully. The symbols will be painted on in white after I get all the hands placed.

Placing the first of the handprints! I pour the paint in the tray and place the hand on the butterfly!

Placing the first of the hands

From the beginning I wanted to find a way to incorporate the children into the piece. A few people from BJC Hospice and Palliative Care had a great idea to find a way to associate when the handprints were collected into the piece. I will be adding something on the piece to designate the Stepping Stone Grief Camp on the butterfly.

I asked a few of the children while I was at camp what they thought I should to incorporate the camp weekend into the piece. They had a great idea. Each of the campers stayed with a group of peers in cabins designated by color. They thought I should incorporate the colors from the cabin into the piece! I couldn’t agree more. I am currently revising the sketches of the base to include each of the colors of the cabins: Pink, Purple, Blue, Green, Yellow, Red, Orange, and Silver.

My hope is when the children see the colors on the base of the butterfly, they will remember their cabin and the camp.

It took several trials and many trips to the art store(s) but we tested a process we felt would work.

After we collected all the handprints the children creatively painted, we took them back to my workspace. I had found in my testing Crayola Model Magic worked best for what we were trying to do: create a positive cast of the hand without damaging the children’s artwork.

We made a quick assembly line and gently pushed the model magic into the hand prints. The results: a positive foam version of the hand I could use to paint the butterfly. Carefully collating all the sketch sheets from the children with their desired symbol, I now have everything to begin painting the butterfly.

Amazingly, we finished this entire process in just a few hours thanks to great help from my family. It would not have been possible without all their quick help!

Lots more handsPart of the foam hands

Back of Butterfly

It was an exciting time at the Stepping Stones Bereavement Camp for Children over the weekend (Learn More here) !! Saturday was the big day. We collected 59 children’s handprints to be painted on the butterfly for the Wings in the City public art project  (Learn about Wings).

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In just a few short weeks the butterflies will all gather in Forest Park for the big reveal!!!!!! I can’t wait. I plan on being there on Sunday afternoon as well! I’ll post comments with the time closer to the date.

Wings in the City :

Sunday, October 10th

11: oom am – 4:00 pm

Public Debut, World’s Fair Pavilion

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