Dragonfly Watercolor

I painted this dragonfly watercolor during one of the most difficult times in my life. Dragonflies became a symbol of hope to me.

You see, dragonflies undergo quite a transformation before they become the beautiful winged creatures we are familiar with. They transform from egg to nymph to an adult dragonfly. The transformation of a nymph to a dragonfly is one of the challenges and emergence. The dragonfly sheds its old form to take on its adult body. The nymph stage takes place underwater when the time is right, the nymph emerges from the world it has known to find a dry place to shed its larva form. The nymph often anchors itself to a rock or a stick for this part of the transformation. As the nymph sheds its larva body, it needs to stay anchored to something solid so that its body can dry and harden. This is an important stage for the dragonfly’s wings, the wings need to unfold, spread out, and harden so that the dragonfly can live. After all of this takes place, the dragonfly goes on to be the most accurate predator.

During difficult seasons, we can look to the natural world to find truth deeply woven into every aspect of creation. Rather than letting that difficult season define me, I decided to surrender. In surrender, I found that the season that felt like it would do me in refined me into a new version of myself.

This painting is for you, too. You have found yourself in seasons that you thought would take you out, but instead, a new healed version of you emerged on the other side.

This dragonfly, measuring 8 x 10 inches, was painted on watercolor paper. It is attached to a board and finished with varnish to allow for glass-free hanging.