Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cassandra Bohne Linnard. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Cassandra, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I had a deep desire to incorporate REAL butterflies in my art but I knew absolutely nothing about working with butterflies. I spent countless hours researching preservations methods and techniques and solicited the help of experts. I reviewed many videos and essentially trained myself on the art of preserving butterflies. I learned how to hydrate, spread and mount this delicate species. I also spent many hours researching butterflies in general. I bought many books about butterflies and learned about the thousands of species, their scientific traits and behavior, their lifecycles, etc. I also had to find reputable, respectable vendors who sustainably source their butterflies. I also had to learn about clock making and this was also time consuming. This involved a lot of research as I had to source best clock parts and locate the top vendors in this area.
I don’t think any time was ill spent on my part when learning everything I had to learn to make the clocks I make. It was all time well spent!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am a native Houstonian and started painting oils & acrylics over 25 years ago. Painting was purely a hobby that started during my college years. It was just so enjoyable and second nature that it was just a part of my life, an essential part of me. I loved painting and found it to be very therapeutic but never pursued it as a career as I had my career in Accounting & Finance. After retiring from the corporate world I dedicated myself to my young family and in this environment, my artistic creativity flourished. It was after creating “Freedom” an abstract oil painting of a lone blue butterfly, I became captivated by the natural beauty of butterflies and inspired to create art using real, preserved butterflies. My butterfly art was very exploratory and I tried lots of different platforms. I kept striving for originality, striving to improve and to wow. I eventually designed a functioning wall clock accented with real preserved butterflies. My line of butterfly clocks stood out from the rest of my art for many reasons. The butterfly clocks are incredibly unique, they are both functional and beautiful works of art and the butterflies are preserved to last a lifetime making the clocks true heirloom pieces. My butterfly clocks took off and I immediately obtained a patent for them since they were so sought after and unique. I am very proud to have contributed something so extraordinarily different to the art world. I am incredibly thankful to everyone who has supported and encouraged me. My trademark slogan “the timeless beauty of real butterflies resurrected through art” perfectly captures the essence of what I try to do. I try to resurrect these butterflies and bring them back to life in my art. The butterflies used in my work are sustainably sourced from all over the world and are selected for their original unadulterated natural colors and beauty. I love all butterflies but strive to bring rarer, exotic butterflies to the forefront of my art.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There is plenty of art out there in the world but I must say that very few pieces have truly touched my soul. I must say that I am incredibly blessed to have touched the hearts and souls of so many of my patrons. My butterfly clocks and some of my paintings have brought my clients to tears, evoking incredible joy and sentiment. Never in my life did I fathom that this could be possible. To know that something I created could create such emotion is incredibly fulfilling and inspiring. I am already passionate about what I do but this just adds to my passion and pursuit.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

To be honest, I am still struggling with social media and am trying to build my network. This is definitely one area I wish I researched earlier but I am actively building my audience now!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bluebutterflydesigns.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassandrabohnel/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cassandrabohnel