Pipevine Swallowtail Jig

"Pipevine Swallowtail Jig"
By Kristy McNelly
30" x 40"
Oil on Canvas
I became aware of an art show that was to be held at the Patrick Heath Public Library by the Native Plant Society of Texas, Boerne Chapter while attending a Boerne Visual Artists meeting - Exhibition Dates: May 5 – May 27, 2025. "OOH! I thought, that would be an interesting project!" For Science sake. For Arts sake.
Most of my oil paintings start with a photo from a trip, or something that is pretty simple. This painting, on the other hand, required several days of study and conversations with native Texas plant experts prior to putting paint to canvas. Thank you to Suzanne Young, Lee Haile, and LeAnn Sharp for your expert help.
Lets back up to the year 1991. It was my forth year at Michigan State University and I presented my senior seminar "Philosophy of Design" to my professor Brenda Clark on five pages of double spaced TYPED paper. "Truly great designers arrive at their conclusions through observation of nature. Plants and animals overcome problems through adaptations that keep their species from extinction. Nothing seems more amazing than the insects metamorphosis. Man could not create such a work of nature that goes from egg to larvae to pupae then to adult."
Now let's observe the life cycle of the Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor).
The swanflower (Aristolochia erecta) is a trailing grass mimic and is the larvae host. It starts as a twisted spear of a bud, then opens up an otherworldly, orchid-like, burgundy bloom with white spots. This Texas native’s bloom is curved like a swan’s neck with an inch long seedpod. The plant's toxin makes them taste bad to predators. The adult female butterfly lays her eggs on the swanflower stem and once hatched, the catterpillars feed on it.
The caterpillar then forms a chrysalis which hangs on a stem of a nearby bush or tree until it emerges as a butterfly with iridescent blue on top and blue speckled with orange on the flipside. The grape-scented fragrance of the Texas Mountain Laurel attracts the pollinators.