Bugs Under Glass Series: A few years ago I became very interested in insect and arachnid mounted specimens. I always liked seeing the taxonomy mounts of museums and scientific institutions. So, naturally I wanted to take them home with me! Living in Houston, I’d visited the Cockrell Butterfly Center numerous times. Each time I’d visit I would see the specimens for sale in the gift shop and pass them up since I didn’t want to spend the money. I was given a few specimens as a gift, which only fanned the flames of my interest in bugs and mounted bugs. So, then like most things, this sets off the frenzy of I WANT MORE…ALL THE SPECIMENS!!! I found a really awesome website that mounts specimens and frames them very well. They were pretty affordable, I just needed to exercise some restraint and purchase them in waves. I purchased a Monarch mount and a Lantern Fly mount. I received the shipment unboxed them and was VERY pleased! I wanted more, but started to feel the bugs were being sourced from the wild. I know that overtime these harvests from the wild can take their toll on insect populations. Thus, I came up with a “brilliant” idea of painting my own little insects. This way it would save a life, and I could enjoy specimens without guilt, the BUGS-UNDER-GLASS series was born!!