MehndiMonarch
image by artist Elizabeth Bonerb

Surprisingly, this image actually records an event that took place one blisteringly hot August afternoon. I found this beautiful Monarch butterfly standing on the hot pavement in a shopping area that was devoid of cooling grass or shade trees. I scooped it up and took it home with me to rest in the shade of the lilac bushes. One of the arts that I practice is mehndi, an ancient practice of applying henna powder to the skin in a special procedure that leaves the brown and black designs visable for sometimes a month. It appeared that this creature was attracted to the tattoo-like markings on my hands, just as it would have been to any bright flower in a butterfly garden. Intuitively, I knew that a photograph commemorating this special event was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Today images like this are made much more possible with digital graphic software, but this is an actual image of the Monarch posing on my hand. I used Photoshop solely to drop out the background and delete part of my arm which showed up in the original photograph. Imagine...an image like this with just a few clicks!