Monarch Butterfly Cold Bronze Wall Plaque

By Jeanne Dana Studios

Approx 7" x 7". 
Each piece is signed and dated with the year of production. 

With the growth of the internet came a steady decline in the use of greeting cards. Always innovating, Jeanne Dana began to create cast paper sculptures and papier-mache art from their old greeting card scraps. They added plaster to the paper castings to make them more durable and began incorporating new coloring and waterproofing techniques. These experimental designs were the foundation of their new company, PaperAndStone. Some of their early designs are still in use today.

Over the years, they have replaced paper with more advanced, natural materials that allow the pieces to last for hundreds of years. In the 21st century, Jeanne Dana’s art has become more architectural, being further influenced by more contemporary designs. Each design is hand sculpted in our clay studio. 

Their styling is best described as decorative, early/ancient European on contemporary themes. They make the finished design into a master mold from plaster, then use the master to make reinforced latex production molds. Every piece is cast by hand using a proprietary blend of hydrocal, plaster, and fortifying agents to produce a piece of art that is both strong and lightweight. The castings are then shaped by hand with angle grinders, files, and sandpaper so that each piece has its own unique form.  Once shaped, the casting is then primed with a cold bronze coating before being colored with gold leaf, metal fibers, acid dyes, patinas, and an acid wash. Each piece is painted by hand, and because of the natural chemical processes at work, no two pieces are alike. The finished art piece is sealed with a UV- and waterproof coating that preserves the colors and protects it from the elements.

An excerpt from Margaret Ann Lembo's Animal Totems: Butterfly totem is an ally for when you are about to make a significant change in your life. The butterfly effect is a theory that the slightest change can have very big effects somewhere else. With this in mind, even the smallest changes in your perception or how you think can change your life significantly. Your choices in this moment, through realizations and the way you look at things, make up your life experiences. Just as a butterfly begins as an egg and goes through many stages to reach the point of metamorphosis, you, too, have the opportunity to create your reality in stages with every thought, word, feeling, and action.