Art and Politics

Regent Parrot or Rock Pebbler (Polytelis anthopeplus), family Psittaculidae, order Psittaciformes, found across southern Australia

Each lacewing spends about 5 days maturing inside its cacoon, and then it cuts an opening in the top and emerges as a fully-developed adult.

Above: a common green lacewing emerging from its cocoon

Green lacewing larvae (genus Chrysopidae) are also known as "aphid lions," because they're voracious predators that often feed on aphids. They've also been known to prey upon caterpillars, leafhoppers, planthoppers, thrips, spiders, mites, and insect eggs, which is why they're widely used to help eradicate pests in agricultural contexts.

Once the lacewing nears the end of its larval stage, it builds a small cacoon out of silk and then tucks itself inside, allowing the pupal phase to begin. Its tiny green body is often partially visible through the thin, loosely-woven walls of the cacoon.

Above: a lacewing developing within its cocoon

These breathtaking photos of a lacewing climbing out of its cacoon were taken by a Danish photographer named Frederik Leck Fischer.

Above: the lacewing preparing to emerge

When the insect initially emerges, its wings and antennae are still compactly folded down against its body, and the wings have a dark, shriveled appearance that makes them almost unrecognizable.

Above: the fully-developed lacewing waiting for its wings to expand

The wings then gradually expand until they have reached their full size, which usually takes about an hour or two.

Above: the same lacewing just a few hours later

Fischer's photographs provide a stunning account of the entire process.

Above: close-up of a common green lacewing

This is a rewritten version of a post that I originally published three years ago.

Sources & More Info:

iNaturalist: Common Green Lacewing

University of California: Family Chrysopidae

Texas A&M: The Green Lacewing

Washington State University: Lacewings

Tennessee State University: Insect Predators: Green Lacewings (PDF)

I wanted the birds to look like they were actually in the space so first thing after doing the draft was to do a lighting study

after that I covered the walls in letters in lieu of a projector/vr headset bc i have neither of those :) Then i take a picture of the section of wall and superimpose the lineart over top of it so I can pencil in the lines

et voila

GIVE IT UP FOR BIRD NUMBUH 5, THE CANADIAN GOOSE, Branta canadensis!!!!

bird 5/14, Bluejay, Cyanocitta cristata

birds 6 and 7: American Goldfinch, Spinus tristis, male and female

BIRD NUMBER 8, (yellow shafted) NORTHERN FLICKERRRRR, Colaptes auratus

genuinely made me start questioning my sanity around day 3, it's half the size the of the goose, WHY did it take me 4 days to finish??

Bird number 9: Red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis

my chains are broken i am FREE. although i did have a great deal of fun with this, the barring on the wings itself took me like four days and i am READY to move on

this was a week and a half of continuous work so please excuse me for getting a little emotional in the bg 🙏

BIRD NUMBER 10!!! The Male Mallard Duck, Anas platyrhynchos

the male and female ones are gonna be posted separately bc they're taking a lot longer lol but yea! super happy i was able to capture the iridescent green of the head, i found metallic green and blue paint at a craft store that really made his head POP. it looks better in person i promise

ALSO!! As this is the 10th one, BIG announcement. The end is in sight!!!!! I plan to finish within the next 3 weeks and there will be a small dedication ceremony/ unveiling happening at the library to commemorate its completion on the 16th of May. If you live in the Western New York region and want to check it out for yourself shoot me a dm!

aaaand another one bites the duck,

we're movin right along with bird numero 11!! The lady Mallard!! Anas platyrhyncos

power couple that they are, here's bird number 12 and 13,

the Northern Cardinals, Cardinalis cardinalis

and NOW that they are complete, ITS GO TIME, in the next five days (library's closed for mother's day 😭😭) i need to have the GBH fully rendered, the names of the birds vectored, weeded, masked, applied to the wall, and then painted, plus additional cattails throughout. I may be able to get away with just getting the GBH done in time for the unveiling and then just have the names and cattails added later, but i'm gonna really try to get it all done in time. BUT, i have a plan. Part of why i take so long on these is because i really am just figuring it out as I do it lmao. there have been many a time where i am sitting on top of the ladder googling "how to paint birds" but I think if i take the time tomorro to do all that figuring out how to approach it beforehand, this will go a lot faster. I may also recruit some of my artist friends to help with the placing of the names... hrmm we'll see.

Anyways, shout out to the librarian who tracked down exactly the thing i needed so i could figure out where to place the highlights in my birds eyes, ur the real mvp

Bird number 14 out of 14,

The Great blue heron, Ardea herodius

thank you to everyone who reached out or got excited about this project, it genuinely gave me the fuel i needed to keep going. In total, the 480+ total hrs it took me to cover this wall pales in comparison to how long its expected to spend on there, hopefully imparting a sense of beauty and love for the natural world to the next generation and here's hoping i'm only getting started with these.

Anglerfolk.