Butterflies and Dahlias

The Large Blue butterfly is one of the rarest blue butterflies in the UK and is distinguished by a row of black spots on its upper forewing. When I was researching butterflies for this collage, I wanted to highlight just how precious some species have become. Now declining throughout the world, this enigmatic beauty needs to be treasured and protected. Incredibly, most of the year its life cycle is spent within a nest of red ants, where the larvae feed on ant grubs. It demonstrates how one species can work with another to survive. This colourful collage painting celebrates summer, and I think the existence of the Large Blue with beautiful Dahlias does just that.