Painting the minute cells of a dragonfly wing so that it tints the light to blaze in a myriad of colors, is an endeavor of passion. Finished Stained Glass Wingdows can adorn you as delicate jewelry such as earrings, be displayed as a mobile, framed, embedded in a plastic block or even mounted in a miniature cathedral.
The Wingdow set includes a magnifying glass, tiny brushes, translucent paints and handy tips on where and when to look for sloughed off insect wings. Experienced enthusiasts stain the wings of beetles and gnats and even the facets of bug eyes via a microscope to later use it for viewing the elusive but elegant result.-- FarmerJohn, Mar 09 2005 cathedral wall illustration http://www.geocitie...nnie/wingdows.html? [FarmerJohn, Mar 09 2005] Possibly of interest http://www.southern...en-us/dept_225.html"DeBrady Glass Studios presents realistic Dragonfly Wings. The pattern in the wings are kiln fused inside clear glass that is then refired to create an iridescent finish." [half, Mar 09 2005] The Painted Bird, by Jerzy Kosinsky http://en.wikipedia...ki/The_Painted_BirdThe book title was drawn from an incident within its content. The boy, while in the company of a professional bird catcher, observes how the man took one of his captured birds and painted it several colors. Then he released the bird to fly in search of a flock of its kin, but when it came upon them, they saw it as an intruder and tore at the bird until it fell from the sky. [LoriZ, Dec 31 2010] Would this explain some of the bugs in Wingdows ?-- normzone, Mar 09 2005 Do dragonflies slough their wings (voluntarily)? But in any event, a bun.-- Basepair, Mar 09 2005 And, how about building complete 1:1 scale model insects from insect parts? Most insects should come apart to form a sort of Airfix* - style kit of re- assemblable parts. *Airfix - popular range of plastic model airplane kits.-- Basepair, Mar 09 2005 The wing I used as a model was attached to the exoskeleton of a literally departed dragonfly.-- FarmerJohn, Mar 09 2005 How does he do it? +-- DesertFox, Mar 09 2005 [Basepair] So an insect Frankenstein? Where's the lightning rod?
'It's alive, it's alive, bwah hah hah hah hah...'-- froglet, Mar 09 2005 FarmerJohn - are you sure this wasn't merely a dessicated ex-dragonfly? I'm no entomologist but I'm pretty sure that adult insects don't moult, or those that do don't moult wings.-- Basepair, Mar 09 2005 That's what I mean, desiccated or eaten out.-- FarmerJohn, Mar 09 2005 Ah. Sounds good to me then :-)-- Basepair, Mar 09 2005 fascinating and beautiful.-- dentworth, Mar 09 2005 Oooooh! <claps>-- k_sra, Mar 09 2005 Grandeur +-- skinflaps, Mar 09 2005 Even better, why don't we just paint *live* dragonflies with nontoxic pigments and then watch them flutter around being pretty - oops I guess those are called butterflies-- submitinkmonkey, Mar 09 2005 Idea...hmmmm. Neutral. <checks illustration> Yeeeaaah! Buns a-plenty!-- wagster, Mar 09 2005 Wingodow enthusiasts are a niche market...although...that illustration is quite impressive...Do you know where I can pick some up?-- thefullrob, Mar 09 2005 Well, it's all in my head.-- FarmerJohn, Mar 10 2005 FYI: Many beetles (some hanging around my compost pile) are already colored fantastically with nearly flourescent blues, violets, yellows, etc. Nature's doing a pretty good job already. Not sure about the idea of doing it manually.-- sophocles, Mar 10 2005 Voted no, animal cruelty-- LoriZ, Dec 31 2010 random, halfbakery