Blue Butterfly Thoughts

Blue Butterfly by Wayne Stratz with the row homes of Lansdale, PA

When I go about creating a blue wing, I walk to my tower of glass, go to the blues and choose one, two, or in this case three that delight my eye.

When a butterfly creates a blue wing, it requires a bit more precision. Scales grow forth, each one from an individual cell and thus a colorless membrane is covered. To get blue light to reach my eyes, the wavelength of light entering my eye must be in the range from 400 to 480 nm. The slits in the scales of the Blue Morpho are 200 nm apart. One inch contains 25,400,000 nm. Like I said, I don't need that precision because the glass already appears blue.


Now if I actually worked from scratch, some cobolt or copper would come in handy to make glass blue.

and this... see all my current animals, blue and not blue at my etsy shop

TBT: A hippo, A Golden Eagle Feather, and a Butterfly walk into a bar, I mean House Number by Nutmeg Designs

The Hippo Project: a house number that went to CA. Created by Wayne Stratz and Margaret Almon in 2012

I had to laugh when I saw these images were taken on April's Fools Day. When Margaret told me what the potential clients wanted on their project, I tghought it was a perfect spam joke for our business. Two four digit numbers, a butterfly, a Golden Eagle Feather, and of course a hippo.

It turned out to be true and now three plus years later, I can tell you it has not led to any hippo commissions, however, up in our studios and Red-Tailed Hawk feather is nearly complete. 

You never know where a client will lead you here at Nutmeg Designs

Close up of the Butterfly featured on The Hippo Project: a house number that went to CA. Created by Wayne Stratz and Margaret Almon in 2012

Close up of the Golden Eagle Feather featured on The Hippo Project: a house number that went to CA. Created by Wayne Stratz and Margaret Almon in 2012

The Hippo featured on The Hippo Project: a house number that went to CA. Created by Wayne Stratz and Margaret Almon in 2012

for my 900th post ~ RevGals five on Ground Hogs

From the Rev Gals ~ 

I have to admit: I never thought much about Groundhog Day.

Then I saw that movie. And an odd holiday that seems to be a remnant of an obscure Pennsylvania German custom took on all sorts of new meaning.

So, in honor of the movie and the day, I present you with this Almost Groundhog Day Edition of the Friday Five!

1. The Holiday: On a scale of 1-5 (with 1 representing, "Hey! Stop hating on the most awesome season ever!" and 5 representing, "Green. NOW."), how much are you hankering for spring? And what is, to you, a true sign that it is actually on its way?

• Always ready for spring, but after the crazy warm winter last years that had garden and forest plant spinning their heads in confusion, I will be a bit patient.

2. The Film: Seen it? If yes, Love it? Hate it? Meh?

• Saw it and enjoyed it.

3. The Meaning: If you could relive one day of your life, what one would it be?

• Any of the days which Mosaic Woman and I explored the Oregon coast. That coast is so amazing and so far away.

4. The Meaning, Part 2: If you had to relive one day of your life over and over until you got something right (a la the Bill Murray character in the film), what day would that be?

• Hmmm, thinking of days in my youth that were filled with poor decisions. Maybe the weekend before midterms that led to my dismissal from a college, but my life would have been so different if I had chosen to focus on academics that weekend.

5. The Meaning, Part 3: If you had to design a life-changing experience for a fairly despicable human being (as is, for example, the Bill Murray character at the film's start), what would it be? How, given all sorts of unlikely powers to bend time and take control of another person's personal growth, would you do it?

• Would not call them despicable, but what comes to mind are students I have had over the last 26 years, but hey, hitting rock bottom helped me... so I have hope for them too. I have seen one small event spiral out of control.. What if the event didn't happen, what if the spiral was stopped from unfolding. 

Check out others who played

Kerri Farley's Blue Jay Inspires Me

For awhile I was remebering which social media platform I met folk at, but lines are being blurred.  It was likely following each other on Twitter is where it began.  But I am a fan of her photos on Flickr and her blog A Little Piece of Me.  I was so happy when she said I was free to be inspired by her photos to create a Blue Jay mosaic, and her post, Sweet Soul Shining Through is the one that resonated.

I am taking some time on this day off (as Hurricane Sandy approaches) to finally place the Blue Jay into our Mandala listings on etsy and to publicly give my friend Kerri the thanks and praise she deserves.

I know there is more inspiration awaiting me over at A Little Piece of Me.  We will see.  We will see.

The sibling: Di's Red-Tailed Hawk

Di's Red-Tailed Hawk Mosaic
by
Wayne Stratz

When commissioned to create something new, I never make two of it at the same time... However, something happened when my friend Di commissioned a Red-Tailed Hawk.  Maybe it was the thought that I would very likely never make another one on my own volition?  But that has been true in many situations, so maybe it was that one day I could make Di smile.

You see I didn't tell Di what I was up to till after the fact, and then only spoke of it with a twinge of guilt.  But the hawks are not twins, for that would be impossible for me to do.  They are siblings of a new species, Di's Red-Tailed Hawk.  If I ever make a third or a fourth, they will have Di's name on it.  She inspired it.

Now why do I finally blog about the sibling, well it is being sent to a new owner this week thanks to our etsy shop.  I wonder if Di and the new owner would be great friends, but what I do know is that when Di reads this and leaves even the briefest of comments; I can guarantee that I will send her a message that will make her smile.

The Pug Commission

I met the Guardian of the pugs many years ago when I first entered the realm of group spiritual direction and was thrilled when she bought one of our Jazz signs, which resonated in both her love of the music and the name of her elder pug.  When I delivered that Jazz sign, we spoke of a pug mosaic.  

I surely did not move quickly on it and when I did finally face the idea of putting Jazz the pug on a mosaic, I had some second thoughts.  I sent an e-mail suggesting that mosaic may not be the best way to go, but my friend had faith in me.  And I ventured into the project.  Yes, dear friends and clients it is your faith in our ability that helps us take on commissions.  There are artists who refuse to do them, but for now we love being pushed into new realms by the desires of our clients.  Even realism (Di's Hawk and Snowcatcher's lizard paved the way)

When Mosaic Woman grouted the mosaic, I thought that I had some how pulled it off.  

So it came to the time to take another mosaic over to our friend's house.  She loved it.  And if you can trust her ability to get Jazz's thoughts down in writing, this blog post shows Jazz is OK with it, even if humans still baffle her.  By the way, a bonus for checking out the blog post is to see me hanging out with Jazz, whose head is tilted as she ponders us humans.

Shipping animals

Red-winged blackbirds
by
Wayne Stratz

Last night on facebook I passed along something I had learned earlier in the day... that it is cheaper to ship a hippo to California than a lizard to Colorado.  I would like to think it has something about the butterfly and the eagle feather that travelled side-by-side with the hippo, but it is more likely that the lizard was weighted down by its concrete base as compared to the larger but lighter wedi board where the hippo resides.

But it made me think of other animals I have sent here and there, including the flock of red-winged blackbirds that went to Maryland.  A special commission that came about when my client and her sisters went for a hike to celebrate good health news and were greeted by the beauty of the birds.

What comes to mind is that all these animals came from the heart of the client who commissioned them.

The Lizard:

Snowcatcher's Collared Lizard
by Wayne Stratz

This cantankerous critter demanded to be delivered in our own vehicle:

Di's Red-tailed Hawk
by
Wayne Stratz

Mickie's Siamese cat that went to Alabama:

Siamese Cat
by
Wayne Stratz

The infamous Hippo Project:  (see the whole thing and the close-up of the butterfly):

The Hippo
by
Wayne Stratz

commission your totem critter

The Hippo Project

The Hippo Project:
A collaboration by
Margaret Almon and Wayne Stratz

 Checking my e-mail one day at lunch I found a note from Margaret.

"Get your representational skills set to go..."  That night we wondered if we were being pranked.  Surely people send artists prank e-mails.  This was no typical house number project~ two four digit numbers plus a butterfly, add a feather, and throw in a hippo.  A hippo, who, what, why?

so we said: OK.  and then we said: How big?  and then we said: Give us some money and we will give you a design and an estimate.

They said 18 by 24,  OK, OK, OK...  and finally "It's beautiful!"

Butterfly design by Wayne Stratz

Blue background design by Wayne Stratz
Golden Eagle Feather by Margaret Almon

Hippo design by Wayne Stratz

Vlog: The jamican (and I do mean jamican) Lizard

Look What The Lizard Dragged In

A huge fan of mine, who happens to be Mosaic Woman's mom, saw the lizard and thought...

"cat" "sister" "violet" "Siamese" "birthday" "suncatcher" ... see how six simple thoughts can lead to a commission.

I have considered doing a cat in glass, but always imagined a Stratozpheric take on an Egyptian cat. But the eyes were important to the client and to keep it simple and highlight the eyes I went with the face. The eyes are the blue glass of the sky surrounding the lizard. But the lizard was not done dragging cats from my studio. The scraps left over from the land the lizard lives upon cried out to become a cat itself and so I expanded the suncatcher into a mosaic mandala...





It currently is looking for a new home but seems happy enough hanging out with the rest of our mandalas .


If one can trust tracking info, the Lizard is showing up in Denver today (photos of the finished stepping stone will be shown once Snowcatcher get it). By the way she is on etsy herself!

Z is for Zoogenesis

Lets end this month of a to z with a beginning, which is a mystery and though best guesses may approach what happened when the first "animal" emerged on the Earth, we will never know for sure. I dig that.

When my students enter into a biology class they sit as I tell 7 origin hypothesis/myths. Then I make my claim that it will always be a mystery. I say, "Even if life is created in a lab, that does not prove that that is the way it happened on the Earth." I encourage them to enjoy that some things will always be a mystery and then encourage them to feel free to believe what they want to believe.

Then I say, "Now lets enter the realm of what biologists have discovered about life ever since it mysteriously came into being."

and that ends it, with a beginning I love.

Science Mondays--- Homeostasis and what we can learn from fish

photo by Chrisam42

a few hours ago, under the quilt of healing, I began to think more about immune systems and such. Our bodies fight so hard to keep things the way it wants it to be... temperature, chemistry, pressures, acidity, solutes, .... Homeostasis.

But when we get sick, the immune system over rides the system. In its attempt to clear our body of what it senses as an attacker it makes us feel bad. Seems strange, but lots of the discomforts that come with a cold or flu are caused by us not them. Not that I would want to go without the immune system.

But I started thinking about fish as I waited for the call for dinner. One of my favorite classes at East Stroudsburg University was Ecological Physiology (or how to maintain homeostasis in nature).

And to this day I love to share these facts with my students: Salt water fish drink a lot but rarely urinate. Fresh water fish rarely drink and urinate frequently. It is all about balance. Craving what you truly need. Holding onto what you require. Letting go of the excesses.

Learn from the fish, is what I say.

Science Mondays--- Hearts

as yesterday's post came to an end, I realized I had not ventured into the science of hearts


1. Bleeding Hearts: the above variety from my front yard is pure white, but they do come in red and pink. It is a symbol of undying love. I hope to remember that this spring when they emerge and greet me as I walk down my porch steps. advice on growing this perennial

2. the rapidly beating heart. Generally speaking birds beat mammals which beat all else. It has to be with our "warm-blooded" metabolism. Hummingbirds can exceed 1000 beats per minute. Shrews win out for mammals which can have 800 beats per minute at rest and an excited shrew was clocked in at 1,511. It is believed that large mammals live longer because they do not wear out their body parts as quickly. The elephant hearts weighs in at 50 pounds and beats 30 times a minute.

3. the hibernating heart: The chipmunk goes from 200 to 5 beats per minute when it heads into hibernation.

4. The future heart transplant: Doctors have ventured into what would make amazing science fiction. They have found a way to take an organ, strip away all the cells, but leaving the protein matrix. Then provide cells and the right conditions and a dead heart can become functional again. If they master this technique, organ transplants could be revolutionized. Waiting to receive a donor liver would be replaced with waiting for your cells to create a new new liver on the matrix of another one. Rejection concerns would plummet. Watch the second chapter of this Nova Now to learn more.

5. 36 interesting facts about the human heart

6. no heart? If trees have no heart then how do they pump water to those high branches. The water is pulled by the leaves using the water and the evaporation out of the leaves (transpiration) and it helps that water is excellent at adhesion and cohesion so that the molecules can form a column. If the column broke, it would be hard to pull the water up.

7. Heart Mountain in Wyoming consist of material 300,000,000 years older than the rocks at its base.

photo by mayrussian7

8. The Heart Nebula is a place where stars are emerging.

...

creation... repulsive

To back up for a moment...

Bonaventure's second step in our journey to God was to judge those vestiges of nature, which we call animals.

When I posted on facebook that I had found a tick on me a few weeks back, a friend asked if ticks have any redeeming value.

When I see a tick on me, I am not joyous. When a bear stopped me one day while I was bicycling as a young man... I knew enough to avoid a close encounter.

I once read a book on places in the world where humans are not on the top of the food chain... places with tigers, brown bear, and a couple other critters. Not many such places left, which though I find sad, just doesn't shock me that humans have killed those that kill us.

So I feel we should be repulsed by the sight of certain animals, but are they are redeeming...

In the game of rock, paper, scissors; if you remove one item, you remove another because it will always lose. Nature is like that, remove one, and another will lose out.

It doesn't mean I will allow a tick to feed on me so that the bacteria that causes Lymes disease will not go extinct. But there was a day when ticks and tigers kept our population from growing exponentially and some may say that was a good thing. I just may agree with them, but be glad I can walk the streets without fear of being eaten.

Today two very young deer were dancing about in my vegetable garden at work. Were they cute, most definitely. However, so far this spring my lettuce, radishes, zucchini, cucumbers, green beans... all have been devastated by ground hogs and deer. It has never been so bad and what worked in the past is failing to protect the crops now.

and so I am ready to say, "you win," and quit trying to win the battle. I guess it is better than being eaten by a grizzly. and I do dig onions, garlic and herbs which the varmints do not like. Who knows, maybe I can use all my left over vegetable seeds to feed those dancing deer?