Sara Kyne's Butterfly Exhibition in Maynooth University Library.
Sara's love for butterflies goes back to early childhood and she remembers the hazy days of summer in the garden and the wonder and admiration she had for these lovely, fairy-like creatures as they alighted on flowers and fluttered away always beyond the steps of a small girl.
Last spring Sara started painting portraits of the butterflies she noticed in the garden. As the months of spring rolled into summer she continued painting them. At first she wasn’t aware of the differences of patterns on male and female nor was she aware of the intricate patterns on the wings and how they differed from each other the upper and lower surfaces. Sara decided to paint all the native species and she visited the Natural history museums in Belfast to see samples of those not found locally. She consulted books and used photographs as references as the samples of butterflies in museums were often old and faded.
She has learned through this project and is very much aware of the important part the insects play in pollination.
It is Sara's hope that people visiting the butterfly exhibition will see how varied our butterflies are and perhaps we as a people can refrain from using chemicals in our environment which destroy these precious creatures.
