Majestic Monarch

by Brian Tada

Title

Majestic Monarch

Artist

Brian Tada

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photograph

Description

03.28.23 THANK YOU to the precious customer from Juneau, Alaska who purchased another framed print of “Majestic Monarch”, this time as a gift shipped directly to a friend in Oklahoma. May the Lord’s peace and joy go with this print and bless your friend’s home for many years to come. God abundantly bless you and once again, thank you very much!

03.24.2023: THANK YOU to the precious customer from Juneau, Alaska who purchased a framed print of “Majestic Monarch”. May the Lord’s peace and joy go with this print and bless your home for many years to come. God abundantly bless you and once again, thank you very much!

*****

On a sunny October morning as I was bringing recycled water to the plants, a stunning monarch butterfly came floating by as if to say, "follow me".

I put down the water container and followed the angelic messenger to a hidden part of the garden with profusely flowering ivy vines. I went to get my camera, and was able to take this natural light high-definition closeup of a breathtaking female monarch butterfly during the brief moment her wings were fully outstretched in the sun.

The Creator of the universe knew my heart's desire was to get a picture of one of these beauties. Little did I realize how this would be fulfilled so unexpectedly.

I am reminded of His promise in Psalm 37:4:: "Delight yourself in ADONAI, and He will give you the requests of your heart." (Tree of Life Bible)

This verse is a loving command from Pappa God with a promise. The Hebrew word for "delight" means "to bend toward, to take pleasure in".

When we honor and respect God in our lifestyle and thought-life, bask in His peaceful presence and obey His Word, He rewards us royally by granting us the deep desires of our hearts.

I ordered this card from my portfolio here and recently sent it to a friend as a Birthday Card. Although you can add a message (up to 500 characters) inside my cards at no additional charge, inside this card I hand-wrote the following additional Scripture which I believe the Holy Spirit quickened to my heart. Like this magnificent Monarch butterfly, it speaks of New Life -- God encourages us to forget the old, the past -- and look forward to the future with hope::

"Do not [earnestly] remember the former things; neither consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."
Isaiah 43:18-19, Amplified Bible

*****

The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. It lays its eggs on the milkweed plant on which the caterpillars exclusively feed.

It looks similar to the viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus) distinguished by the addition of a black line across the hindwing vein.

The bright and contrasting colors of both the caterpillar and adult monarch serve as "aposematic coloration" or warning coloration, and is designed to protect from predators, a signal of their undesirable taste and poisonous characteristics if eaten.

According to Wikipedia, the monarch butterfly's range extends from northern South America northward through the U.S. to southern Canada. It has also been found in Hawaii, the Caribbean islands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Australia, India, Nepal, South Africa, the Philippines, northern Africa and even in the UK as an occasional visitor.

North American monarch butterflies are noted for their incredible migration of up to 3,000 miles (4,828 kilometers). Populations west of the Rocky Mountain Range migrate to coastal regions in California, and those east of the Rockies and in Canada overwinter in Mexico.

They may be found year-round in Florida and Arizona where the habitat has the necessary conditions for their survival.

One of the largest overwintering sites in the United States is in Pismo Beach, California, where the monarch season is November through February. Varying numbers from 20,000 to 200,000 of these butterflies choose this as their wintering site each year.

Typically, adult monarch butterflies live only two to six weeks. The generation that emerges in late summer lives six to eight months as they are the ones which will make the long migratory journey. They follow the same migratory path as previous generations and will return the following spring, even back to the same tree.

Large-scale use of herbicides by farmers and homeowners on the milkweed plant is a major threat to the monarch butterfly, whose numbers have dwindled precariously in various areas of the United States. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports nearly one billion (1,000,000,000) monarch butterflies have disappeared since 1990.

One of the best ways to see more of these majestic insects up close is to maintain a chemical-free garden featuring the milkweed plant, an important food source for the caterpillars of monarch butterflies, and to have various flowering plants in your yard which provide nectar for these majestic flying jewels.

The monarch butterfly is indeed one of the many marvels of creation and intelligent design.

"ADONAI, how countless are Your works! In wisdom You made them all -- the earth is full of Your creatures." Psalm 104:24, Tree of Life Bible

*****

Grateful to God and thankful to the administrators for the honor of featuring this image on the home pages of the Fine Art America groups::

* BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLIES, 10.13.15
* GROOVY BUTTERFLIES, 10.14.15
* ALL NATURAL BEAUTY OF THIS WORLD, 10.14.15
* VISIONS OF SPRING, 10.14.15
* WISCONSIN FLOWERS AND SCENERY, 10.17.15
* 10 PLUS, 12.06.15
* MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY GROUP, 12.27.15
* ORANGE EUPHORIA, 05.31.16
* 500 VIEWS SHARE GROUP, 06.05.16
* 500 VIEWS - 1 IMAGE A DAY, 06.08.16
* BUGS BUGS AND MORE BUGS, 01.08.17
* INSECTS AND CREEPY CRAWLIES, 01.10.17
* MACRO MARVELS, 02.05.17
* NATURE PHOTOS, 02.05.17
* USA PHOTOGRAPHERS:: Awarded the "Butterflies, Dragonflies, and Insects Photo of the Day", 03.15.17
* ART DISTRICT, 05.06.17
* ARTS FANTASTIC WORLD, 05.07.17
* ALL ART WELCOME, 07.23.17
* ORANGE EUPHORIA, 05.30.20

Special Recognition::
* Peer-nomination by a fellow artist for a Special Feature on the home page of the "1000 Views on 1 Image" group. Thank you so much for your support, truly an honor! God bless you!


*****

Artwork notes:

Embedded in the top right-hand corner is the Hebrew acronym for "B'ezras Hashem" [ב ס " ד] meaning "with God's help". It is a reminder to me as an artist and photographer of my dependence on the Almighty, the Originator of all creativity. This is a similar acknowledgement used by great artists like Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel who signed their work with the Latin phrase, "Soli Deo gloria" which means, "Glory to God alone".

This image is available as a museum-quality print or poster (framed or unframed). Greeting cards are available in discount quantities of 10 or 25 per pack. All artwork in my portfolio comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee through Fine Art America. World-wide shipping is available. Please visit the various ordering options above for more details.

Scripture taken from the Holy Scriptures, Tree of Life Version. Copyright © 2011, 2012, 2013 by the Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society. Used by permission of the Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society. "TLV" and "Tree of Life Version" and "Tree of Life Holy Scriptures" are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark office by the Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Photo copyright © 2015 Brian Tada. All rights reserved. To the glory of God. This image is not in the public domain. It is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws, and may not be copied, photographed, downloaded, distributed or altered in any way.

As this is part of my livelihood, your purchase would be appreciated to support my continuing work in fine art nature photography. Thank you very much. God bless you.

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October 13th, 2015

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