I've always been drawn to nature; the trees and flowers, and the animals and insects. So even when I was younger, I was outside digging in the dirt with my hands and playing with lizards and snails, as well as many other things. I've just always had a strong appreciation for nature and the natural Earth around me. There's so much beauty to be seen in even the smallest of things, and I want to capture that and let others see it the way I do.



So, as far as how I collect some of my wings, I source most of my wings myself. I'm definitely not squeamish when it comes to collecting dead cicadas from underneath the trees. During the early Summer to Autumn months, cicadas start to emerge from their underground nymph stage where they transform into their winged adult stage taking flight to swarm the trees. Their adult stage is only a few weeks long to breed, and then they drop from the trees and die, their life cycle complete, and I collect them. Living on several wooded acres really helps too! Luckily I have some amazing friends and followers I've connected with that donate their winged finds to me to create with. I also work with butterfly and moth breeders that raise caterpillars to release into the wild populations that send me the ones that don't make it. Estate sales and little antique or thrift stores have also scored me amazing finds from old insect collections, to shadowboxes, and other neat things. Cicadas, dragonflies, moths, butterflies, etc, all have such a natural delicate beauty to them, but in comparison to people they have such short little lives. What I create with their wings is a way for me to immortalize their beauty and spirit, so we can all remember and appreciate them in a magical way.