Metamorphosis with Peacock Wings

This summer in Britain you can notice a relative abundance of butterflies. The long spells of warm, sunny weather seem to have suited them.

Here in Hebden Bridge the most frequent bright navigator has been the Peacock butterfly. I've loved watching them spiralling through the shrubs in my backyard. They seem unearthly flakes of colour escaped from another dimension.

Alongside the entrance to Linden Mill where I have my studio, there's an unkempt Buddleia bush which most of the time looks ugly as it tries to bully its way into the building. But surprisingly, every July it quietly transforms into a magnificent vision of purple panicles.

This public display of regal colour cannot be allowed to go unchallenged and a squadron of gleaming Peacocks drift in to add their eye-poppingly vivid insignia to the show.

The metamorphic journey of a butterfly, the natural process, resonates with our ideas about personal growth and spiritual transformation. Butterflies as symbols of change feature in many cultures around the globe.

It's their paradoxical embodiment of fragility and resilience that speaks to me. The silken wings are paper thin yet Peacock butterflies can cover long distances, withstand violent weather and survive through winter.

I have seen Peacocks high up on the bleak moorland of Blackstone Edge. You can't imagine how they could remain alive up there. Hidden within the heather they suddenly appear as if out of nowhere, flying with such intensity of purpose and beauty.

As an artist reflecting on these elements, I felt inspired to make a hand-held artwork based on what is known as a 'Turkish Map Fold' which can be described as being a sculptural book-binding and paper-folding technique. It involves a clever way of enfolding a larger piece of paper within a smaller one.

I made this video to show the details of the booklet and how it opens up.

Angie Rogers. Peacock Butterfly At Blackstone Edge Folding Booklet.

The folding really is quite simple once you get the hang of it but the effect of opening the cover is disproportionally effective as the butterfly is suddenly revealed, mirroring my experience of Peacocks on the harsh slopes of the moor.

Buy Butterfly

Here's a suggestion about how to display the butterfly on your wall at home if you want to hang it up.

The folding Peacock Butterfly is made as a companion piece to the folding Golden Plover Nest, under the theme of The Enfolding Landscape Revealed, an on-going project. These are available to purchase from my web shop under Cards and Gifts.

Close-up detail of the Peacock butterfly. The original artwork was created as a woodcut, hand printed and hand painted with watercolour.

This involved an intense amount of work. To make an affordable item, I had everything photographed and commercially printed onto flat sheets which I then folded individually and assembled - a labour of love.

Summer Days On The Canal, my largest woodcut so far, also features a peacock butterfly although perhaps this is less obvious as it is a monochrome image.

Angie Rogers, Summer Days On The Canal, woodcut

Summer Days On The Canal

To view this print in my shop, either look in the menu for woodcut wildlife or click the button.

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