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The strategies most compelling in these pieces are the sharp contrasting colors in Daisy and Lives of Grass as well as the creation of a series and the approachable character of Miffy Fountain

Addiction

For this project I chose the problem of addiction. While a wide variety of addictions exist, the most interesting and difficult ones are those which are unconscious or widely accepted. Most everyone is familiar with drug and alcohol addiction, frustrating and sometimes devastating conditions which can damage relationships and families as well as causing other societal problems. It seems that even those whom we hold up as role models are not free from the temptations of addiction which further perpetuates the culture of such actions.

The most potent addictions, as stated above, are the subconscious ones. Most recently “tech addiction” has come into its own as a major problem for some, and its persistence is a mark of just how easy it is to fall prey to something simple. Imagine the difficulty some have with relinquishing their phones for an hour or two, avoiding their email for a day, or staying off the internet for a week. For some people it is almost impossible to the point wherein the thought of it can cause some people incredible stress.

Even more painful are addictions which affect emotional ties. Many have heard of or experienced the feeling of an addiction of the heart. Often we encounter friends who seem stuck in abusive or horrible relationships and, while we might see the situation relatively objectively, they appear unable to see as we see. Herein is the most potent addiction, love. This is not to say that all love is some kind of terrible addiction, but that some love interests follow the pattern of addiction almost to a tee. Read “Of Human Bondage” and relate it to one of your friends with a bad relationship; therein is the plot. Can we see the effects of addiction? Yes. Can we empathize with addiction? Yes. Would we ever admit to being addicted to something? Denial.

Escape, Junkie, Demons, Pain, Sorrow, Family, Choice, Personality, Alcohol, Cell Phones, Love, Relationships, My favorite book.

For this project I chose the story of Aladdin. This story actually lends itself well to adaptation with the insect of my choice, the Red Spotted Purple. The butterfly has several larval (caterpillar) stages and finally emerges as a vibrant winged insect. In the narrative Aladdin meets a beautiful girl, falls prey to an evil magician, and makes deals with two genies. Different stages of the butterfly’s life cycle can be used to exemplify the characters in the story.

Some moments which would be thematically and visually appropriate are:

When Aladdin meets the genie of the ring

When Aladdin meets the genie of the lamp

When Aladdin moves from his small homestead to a vast mansion

When Aladdin meets the princess

When Aladdin is trapped in the cave of wonder and discovers vibrant and brilliant fruit like gems

For this story the main changes will be to appearance. Obviously it is not possible to make a beautiful caterpillar in the human sense, but it may be possible to make one that is very distinctive. Additionally, in the story the genie of the lamp is repulsive which is something that merits change for the final renders (Though there are two butterflies that are similar in shape but coloring differs. The less vibrant could be used as the “ugly” genie).

Red Spotted Purple female butterflies prefer to lay eggs along the tips of cherry or willow leaves near water courses or along power or gas line right of ways near forest edges. Once the egg hatches into a young first instar caterpillar, it begins to feed around the vein of the leaf; creating a conspicuous perch and then extending that perch with dung and debris. As shown, the butterfly is a striking blue with some red or orange accents on it’s wings, though the caterpillars are less ornate – usually a brown to use as camouflage. The Red Spotted Purple is also very similar to the White Admiral. The two share the same body structure, and only differ in habitat and coloring. The Red Spotted Purple is indigenous to the eastern part of the United States and feed particularly on sap, rotting fruit, and dung.

The Red Spotted Purple lays a single egg at a time which is unusual in insects, though is common for many types of butterflies. Traditionally, laying many eggs is advantageous for animals which fall near the bottom of the food chain.

Not many stories or folk tales are recorded about this rather inconspicuous butterfly. Few contemporary writers even mention it. One instance of this is May Swenson’s poem “Unconscious Came a Beauty” (Shown below).