Nedra's Refraction - Blue Velvet

 

I did a bit of research about refraction and learned that blue flowers and animals are very rare in nature. Part of the reason is that there isn’t really a true blue color or pigment and both plants and animals have to perform tricks of the light to appear blue. For plants, blue is achieved by mixing naturally occurring pigments, very much as an artist would mix colors. The most commonly used are the red pigments, called anthocyanins, and whose appearance can be changed by varying acidity. These alterations, combined with reflective light can create some spectacular results: delphiniums, plumbago, bluebells, hydrangeas, morning glories, and cornflowers. 

Instead of pigment mixing or alteration, blue is achieved in many animals by making structures that change the wavelength of light or refracting it. For example, the blue morpho butterfly gets it's color from the fact that its wing scales are shaped in ridges that causes light to bend in such a way that the only wavelength that reflects is blue. If shaped differently the blue color would vanish. I thought the butterfly was stunning and decided to depict it for our refraction challenge. 

The butterfly is made collage style and then attached to the background. I used machine stitching, watercolor pencils and paint to add the identifying marks. The background is a batik which I used to make 3 dimensional leaves that are machined stitched. Sticks were gathered from nature to make the setting for the butterfly. It is machine pieced and bound and attached to a canvas. My husband made the sycamore frame. I very much enjoyed creating this piece for our final reveal.  I compared it to my first reveal and realized how much my creative process has improved!!  I must thank Andrea for inviting me to join this group and for Alice who was our original and fantastic leader!!