Butterflies of Zimbabwe

In 2006 I was commissioned to paint Butterflies of Zimbabwe for the C.A.B.S. (Central African Building Society – Zimbabwe) calendar which needed to be done to scale.

For reference I was fortunate enough to turn to my friend Barbara Reed who had inherited a full collection from her father, Mr John Reed.

The media I used to paint the butterflies was watercolour and finished with acrylic for the fine detail.

42 thoughts on “Butterflies of Zimbabwe

  1. Brilliant work… and as accurate as you can get. Most of us in the country started collecting butterflies at some stage in our lives …and most of us were too slow to catch the Charaxes’s … with the normal home made nets… It was fun though … Well Done Di 🙂

    1. Thank you so much Mike – and lovely to hear from you.
      I do sincerely apologise for not replying soon but have to admit that I have not attended to my website recently which is not good – too many other stuff to do – but now trying to catch up again. xxx
      Thank you for commenting xxx

  2. Just gorgeous Dinah…and evokes so many memories…my dad was an avid collector. I spent many hours of my childhood checking his traps with him, identifying, etc. They hold a very special place in my heart. The detail is phenomenal!

  3. These are really beautiful and really show how intricate the patterns are. I must share with my dear sister in law Lesley Peacocke who loves butterflies and has started taking lovely photos of them.Wish i had seen this when i was teaching painting to my grand daughter. we did a collage of butterflies we had painted.

  4. Gorgeous. Mom collects butterfly stamps & likes to paint these too. I’ll show her these, she’ll be delighted as I am by their beauty. Ax

    1. Thank you so much Annette, apologies for taking this time to reply but it’s all new to me and of course right now enjoying myself here in Florida staying with a very dear friend.
      Once I am back I’ll be expanding the site and adding more pics and content.
      Warmest regards
      Dinah

  5. Just the most beautifuk pictures, you really are so talented Di. . I treasure the calendar you produced a long time ago , your paintings are such a wonderful reminder of our precious RHodeida. I look forward to seeing more of your work .Bobby

    1. Darling Bobby,
      Thank you so much for your wonderful comments and that you still have my calendar is very special to me, thank you.
      Thank you too for waiting so long for my reply – I’m a bit slow to re-act on my new website and astill learning the ropes, but woooo hooo I’m also on a long holiday with a friend here in Florida and loving it.
      When |I get back I’ll be adding so much more – pictures and blogs.
      Lotsa love Bobbie – take care xxx
      Dinah

    1. Thank you Mrs Hansen – the bees were there but just flew out the pictures.
      Thank you so much for adding a lovely comment. Muchly appreciated.
      Lotsa love
      Dinah

    1. Dear Grunter,
      You always say the very nicest things about my work and I always appreciate them very much.
      Love you too for all the happy memories I still hold from our Umvukwe days.
      Take care and lotsa love
      Dinah

    1. Thank you so much Sheila, I sincerely appreciate receiving your lovely comment.
      Warm regards
      Dinah

    1. Thank you so much Sarah – lovely to hear from you and thank you for waiting so long for my reply. Just getting to know how to run a website as well as
      wooo hooo here I am in Florida on a long holiday.
      Prints are an excellent idea and that will come later when I add a shop to my site and have the best means to have them printed.
      Take care sweetie,
      Dinah

    1. Hi Steve – many thanks for you heartwarming comments. No, these are not in book form nor in the USA they are from my original paintings which I still hold. It was a series I did for a commercial calendar in Zimbabwe.
      Thank you for taking the trouble and time to write.
      Warm regards
      Dinah

  6. Dear Di, firstly I am Ashleigh’s Mum, Gillian. Your butterflies are beautiful, I did try to do one just over three years ago when I first put paint on paper. I have found that my love of birds works very much better for me and although my detail is certainly nothing like yours I do get them to look like birds. Well done Di, what an incredible talent!

    1. Dear Gillian,
      Thank you so much for your lovely words and thank you too for waiting so long for a reply from me. This website is all new to me and I’m still learning how to get around it – plus – of course being over here in Florida being another reason – a good one anyway.
      Just keep going with the birds – they are such fun to do.
      Warmest regards – Dinah

  7. Hello Di. These are really beautiful, and how i miss not getting a glimpse of one of these flying by. You are a very talented lady. Lots of love. Graham

    1. Hello Graham,
      Thank you so much for leaving such a lovely comment. I’m in Florida presently staying with a very dear friend and my reason for not replying sooner.
      Bless you for commenting – love Dinah

    1. Hello Soren, I apologise for taking this time in replying to your comment and thank you very much for your heartwarming comment on my work.

      How exciting for me that you found my website and I am delighted you shared the link to your site showing your butterfly collection.
      I have to say I am so impressed you managed to collect so many in such a short time in Zimbabwe and wonder if you managed to make contact with the other collectors from there. I am also very impressed with your collections you have from other countries as well. Were you with the Diplomatic Cor to have travelled around to so many countries?

      I painted mine from a collection my friend owns which she inherited from her father Colonel John Reed who was with the District Commissioning Services before he passed away.

      Thank you for visiting my site and adding your comment, I am very grateful.

      1. Hi Dinah. So nice to have your reply. I have looked at all your works that I could find on the internet. I am so impressed – that you can make all those details. And your photos are so fine. Funny to read about the places where you have lived in Zimbabwe. We have been most of the places that you mention. It is such a beautiful country. We must hope that the wonderful people will have a better life now they have had a change.
        No, we never got in touch with other Butterfly collectors when we were there. We just had our net with us when we were on tours. Now we only take photos. I wouldn’t say we were with the diplomatic corps. I’m a textile technician and I was employed by the Danish foreign ministry as advisor on the school: Clothing Design and Technical Institute (CDTI) in Harare, Zim. And we had the connection to the Danish embassy. My wife Tove teached the Danish children in Danish. Other overseas jobs we had were both privately and under the government. I’m sorry that my website is only with Danish text (mainly). I’m considering to do something on that one day.
        I’m looking forward to have your life story. I’m sure you got so many fine photos. You could use them and then tell your story under each photo. 🙂 Best regards and thanks, Soren

  8. Is there a National Butterfly of Zimbabwe ?

    In Sweden we are voting to have a Swedish National Butterfly now.

    1. Hello Elizabeth,
      Thank you for your comment
      As for your question, I don’t think Zimbabwe actually does have a National Butterfly and that is a very good question because perhaps we should have one.
      I think Sweden will win the vote to have one.
      My warmest regards
      Dinah

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