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Reputed as “dancers of Great Nature” and “flowers that fly”, butterflies are regarded as a symbol of peace, happiness and fidelity. Butterfly art has a history of more than 200 years in foreign countries. Although China is rich in butterflies, butterfly art has developed slowly in the nation. The first butterfly pictures sprang up in the 1930s in China’s Taiwan Province, and are still developing on the Chinese mainland.

Good butterfly art, however, is not determined by the rarity or value of the butterfly species used: It is the artist’s technique and skill that matter. Butterflies should not be captured or sold for this purpose alone, particularly rare species under State protection.

‘Monsieur Butterfly’: Liang Senquan

Liang Senquan has tried his best to present the most beautiful side of butterfly wings to people. The 60-year-old member of the China Arts and Crafts Association has changed the traditional ways of creating two-dimensional butterfly pictures, initiating a new technique that features bas-relief or 3-D pictures.

His works have won the second prize at China’s First Tourism Souvenirs Design Competition in 2002, and were selected as gifts by the Hainan Provincial Government to the World Tourism Organization. In 2003, Liang walked away with the Best Innovation Award at the Hainan Tourism Souvenirs Design Competition.

In Liang’s studio, partially complete and finished butterfly pictures are scattered among various Chinese and foreign books on butterflies and butterfly wings from various species.

Although Liang, who used to be a medical worker, says that it is hard to associate medical work with creating butterfly pictures, his experience in the medical field has laid out a solid foundation in his current career, especially in terms of preserving butterfly wings.

（Source: chinaculture.org）