I admire the imagination and quirky vision of Dutch artist Anne Ten Donkelaar who creates the most delicate pieces of artwork using fragile materials such as insects bodies and butterfly wings to create something very distinct. These pieces are from her Broken Butterflies collection. The piece above is titled "Goudrafeltje". I love the conceit of gilding the wings of a real butterfly - as if they weren't pretty enough already!
An interesting combination/collage of actual butterfly and map fragments in "Map Butterfly" above.
Such delicate thread work in The Thread Tensioner, above, must require a steady hand and nerves of steel.
I think the piece above - 24 Piece Butterfly, creating a whole butterfly from layered fragments of broken/salvaged butterfly wings is beautiful.
Donkelaar says of her work - " A damaged butterfly, a broken twig, a bumblebee, some strangely grown weeds: I find all these unique discoveries in my path and then take them home to my studio. My finds inspire me. While looking at them I can invent my own stories about their existence and their lives. By protecting these precious pieces under glass, I give the objects a second life and hope to inspire people to make up their own stories about them".
