Small but Mighty
September 17, 2026 was the date of a 'Sip & Paint with Audrey' at the Cape May VFW. The subject for this event was the beautiful Monarch butterfly. I complete a Monarch painting every year around late summer, when these amazing insects are abundant in the Cape May area as they begin their long journey, and I wanted to share some of my painting methods with the participants.
"Small but Mighty" certainly was the theme for the night. There were 3 of us; me and 2 wonderful ladies who I know and appreciate from my time with Cape May MAC. So a small but talented group! We talked about art, work, life, how our summers went, and of course Monarch butterflies.
Monarch Facts: Did you know?
Monarchs migrate up to 3000 miles annually, from Canada to Central Mexico, where their life cycle begins & ends.
In Mexico, eggs are laid on milkweed. The eggs hatch in 2-5 days.
Monarch caterpillars grow through 5 phases, called 'instars'. The roughly 2 week instar process allows the caterpillars to put on weight. They can end up being up to 2000 times their original mass.
The caterpillars then build a chrysalis, in which they entomb themselves to perform one of Nature's most amazing transformations. Clark Kent going into a phone booth and emerging as Superman has nothing on these little insects.
After 10-14 days, from the chrysalis emerges a bright orange Monarch butterfly.
The Monarch's bright orange color is Nature's way of indicating "I don't taste good". As these butterflies don't have any other way of defending themselves, the bright color is very important.
The migratory round trip is not taken by any single Monarch. The complete journey takes multiple generations of insects, each playing their part to ensure the continuation of the species.
A typical Monarch butterfly only lives for 2-5 weeks. Their mission is to lay eggs to ensure the next generation. There are 4 distinct generations of Monarchs.
The first generation is hatched and grows up in Mexico. In spring (April & May) they begin migrating to Texas & states along the Gulf of Mexico. They continue laying eggs and then dying. These eggs become the second generation.
The second generation migrates northward as the weather warms. By June they are arriving in the Midwest and the Northeast US.
By July the third generation is abundant in Canada.
In late summer, milkweed begins to age and change, temperatures begin to cool, and the sun rises later & sets sooner, shortening our days. This is the time that the fourth, or 'Super Generation' of Monarch appears.
The 'Super Generation' of Monarch enters a phase called Reproductive Diapause, in which they do not develop sexually. Instead, they direct all of their energy into a long migration, from Canada to Mexico. This generation is hardy. They can live up to 8 months, and they can travel between 50 & 100 miles per day. When they finally arrive at their destination, they then gain the ability to lay eggs. Those eggs then become the first generation of the next season, continuing the process for another year.
Since we all were experienced with some type of creativity, we painted in unison, but each of us began with a different ground color on our canvas, resulting in completely different compositions and color themes. Mary changed one of her Monarchs into a Swallowtail butterfly; Susan had a picket fence that you'd see along sand dunes, and I stuck with my vivid green Impressionist-style background.
I dubbed this little group, and the night's artistic subject, 'Small but Mighty', and the phrase really fit the bill. All of the paintings were successful, and we had some laughs and great conversations during the evening. Cheers to both of you ladies! You made my night!
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