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Making
Japanese Butterflies
Paint, brush, and paper are the only materials needed for
making Japanese butterflies! This activity is as fun today as it was in
the1880s, when japonisme—a craze for everything Japanese—was
fashionable in the U.S., France, and England. We have adapted the instructions
from an issue of The American Agriculturist, a magazine for farm families,
in SPNEA’s Library and Archives.
How to do it: Using
plenty of paint, write your name (or initials, monogram, or anything else)
in the middle of a piece of heavy paper. Quickly, before any of the paint
dries, fold your paper in half and press down hard all around. Open the
paper and you’ll find something completely unexpected! Add a few
arrows, curves, snake lines or any other thing you can think of. Quickly
fold the paper again and see how your Japanese Butterfly has changed.
A few hints:
Use poster paint or another heavy paint—watercolors may be too
thin.
Be sure that your fold goes through the painted letters. Otherwise your
butterfly will have no middle.
Add lines and shapes to your butterfly as many times as you like. Every
time you open it, your butterfly will be different.
Experiment! Use one color, then try many colors. Change the order of
the letters in your name or try someone else’s name. Change the direction
of your fold. Make the letters very thin and then very thick. Try painting
your name at a crazy angle or in a circle or backwards. Every butterfly
is unique!
—Peter Gittleman, Director of Interpretation &
Education
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