Glowing Butterflies with Gallery Glass

It's the time of year when holidays are a little scarce, so I like to concentrate on all occasion designs. Butterflies are some of Nature's finest work and they make wonderful subjects for glass crafting. This one was done on a 16"x20" poster frame and is displayed in my office window. It uses some NEW beach glass and shimmer colors that have just been introduced. The top butterfly uses the Honey Quartz Frost, Root Beet Frost, Sand Frost, and Aqua Shimmer. If you don't have the new colors, you can mix your own colors, or change the palette, OR choose the closest color from your existing supplies.

Here is another butterfly done with the new colors. For this panel I used: Cranberry Shimmer, Sapphire Shimmer and Root Beet Frost. Some of the colors I was testing didn't go forward, so  Shimmer colors that didn't go forward, but you can use Royal Blue and Blue Diamond to get the same effect. Use Fresh Lime or Snow White for the accents on the wings.

Here is a pair of butterflies that are fun to do. This panel was done by on a 12" Round Plexi panel which you probably don't have, but you can crop the design slightly and lead it onto an 8x10" picture frame glass insert. 

Here the original butterfly pattern that I had converted into a rectangle for the first panel in the post.I actually prefer it round, but the booth space I was filling with the Aqua butterfly required a rectangular motif, so I thought you might want to see how I converted the design. This is an alternative that you always have when you are adapting surfaces for a design. 

What do you know of butterflies in folklore? Many of the ancient civilizations believed that butterflies were symbols of the human soul. The Greeks believed that a new human soul was born each time an adult butterfly emerged from it's cocoon. Butterflies have been used by the Chinese and Japanese cultures for centuries as symbols of joy and the essence of happiness. Both cultures have added them to manuscripts, paintings and drawings for centuries. Early Europeans believed that the human soul took the form of a butterfly and they viewed the butterfly with great respect and often with fear. Northern Europeans thought that dreams were the result of the soul butterfly's wanderings through other worlds. In southern Germany, some say the dead are reborn as children who fly about as butterflies, resulting in the belief that they bring children. The Irish believe that butterflies are the souls of the dead waiting to pass through purgatory. Native American Indian legends told that butterflies would carry the wishes to the Great Spirit in heaven to be granted. Shoshone Indians believed that butterflies were originally pebbles, into which the Great Spirit blew the precious breath of life. Native American Zuni tribes believed that butterflies could predict the weather. The Zuni also believed that the white butterfly predicts the beginning of summer. 

So let yourself be lead by mythical white butterflies and "flutter" into summer by painting a butterfly for your window or create a meaningful gift for a friend. Enjoy!