The pink and white Immortelle flower remains unchanging while the purple skeleton dances, joined to the flower by a black bead butterfly. In making this drawing, I had in mind images from Maria Sibylla Merian’s gorgeous book ‘Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium’ of 1705. This drawing shows the life cycle of the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) butterfly on the Immortelle flower. I used a plastic toy set of a Painted Lady egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly from the Natural History Museum, London. I also painted from a faded real antique Painted Lady specimen. I drew around my own hand and used my purple nail varnish to feed the flower. This drawing references a variety of painted ladies.