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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Watercolor: Official State Butterfly


"Official State Butterfly" (Hypaurotis Cryslaus, a.k.a. Colorado Hairstreak)
3.5 x 5 inches
Watercolor on Canson's cold press paper

Amazingly enough, I'm still coming across butterflies in the garden. Even big ones, like monarchs. Somehow, they're ignoring the fact that it's mid-October and that they should be migrating to, say, Mexico.  How they've kept alive through several sub-zero nights is a bit of a mystery. 

On a related note: Did you know that Colorado has an official state insect?  I didn't, either, because it was legislated in 1996,  long after I'd left fourth grade (the grade that we were required to memorize all the state emblems: state seal, state flag, state flower, state bird, and yes, even state dinosaur.)  So it was nice to learn that this beautiful variety of lepidoptera has been serving as our representative to the world.

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