Story: CBC Butterflies' from my cancer series illustrates a child's perspective on getting a Complete Blood Count (CBC). I depict how young me imagined butterfly needles when the nurse said, 'they help the blood come out.' The butterflies symbolize my body's transformation as chemo drugs (Calamondin lemons) destroy cancer cells, giving me life (Calamondin blossom). They also draw blood to monitor treatment progress. The Calamondin lemons and flowers (Filipino) and Black Swallowtail butterflies (Florida) reference my mixed heritage, being half Filipino and half Caucasian.
During my treatment, I had to get my blood drawn multiple times for a Complete Blood Count (CBC) to monitor the quantity of my blood cells. I depict how child me would have imagined butterfly needles when her nurse explained that “they help the blood come out.” The butterflies are the transformation my body is undergoing as the chemo drugs (Calamondin lemons) destroy the cancer cells to give me life (Calamondin blossom). They also draw the blood to examine the progress of the treatment within my blood.
Symbols: Butterflies, dress, Calamansi flower and lemons, blood, gloves, leaves, needles, tubing.
Media: Acrylic, watercolor, cardstock, yarn, alcohol inks, vinyl on canvas
It all starts with a sketch, choice of limited color palette and some symbols. I chose a minor color chord (inspired by artist John Sloan). For me I just call it Minor Chord #19: Yellow-Orange, Green and Red-Purple. I began with warm yellow ground, sketch and added paper butterflies to the base. I traced and hand cut the butterflies based off of black and white printouts of swallowtail butterflies butterflies I took at a Florida nature park a few years back.
Along the way during this process, I take many reference photos. Since I am not a nurse nor own any medical supplies, I used narrow prescription or other bottles as stand in for the blood vial so that I could try to get the hands positioned the way I wanted them. To help with flowers, I made mockup flowers with tissue paper and wire for some of the references.
Below are some vids and posts of the process scattered across the web.