"As a child, nothing fascinated me more than the harmonious colours and wonderful, sometimes strange forms of butterflies. Nostalgic memories of the countryside, with all the field flowers full of butterflies, made me decide to do this series.

 

"Before I started, I did very intense fieldwork and studying. A part of that studying was several visits to The Museum of Natural History in Brussels. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw how many different species of butterflies and moths exist in the world. When they opened all the drawers where they keep the dried specimens for me, it was like a jewelry display. Since then, I call butterlfies the jewels of nature. One's admiration for the beauty of nature grows a lot when standing in front of such a drawer full of those colourful, shiny treasures. Nature, my big master, is an incredilble artist.

 

"Will people ever be smart enough to stop destroying the habitats of so many beautiful species so that future generations can enjoy them?" - Carl Brenders from his book "Pride of Place" (2007).