Focus on Detailing: Insects

At J.Gumbrill, we are always happy to work with our customers to produce a memorial that is an appropriate tribute to the person or people it commemorates. This includes appropriate dates and names but can also extend much further than that. In the last of this three-part series, Annissa looks at requests for detailing of insects: bees, butterflies and even spiders (which of course, are not insects!) among others. Her previous posts looked at the other popular requests we receive: birds, and flowers.

Memorials have many purposes- to serve as a marker of a special place, or to be a focus of remembrance, for example. Another of these meanings is to tell passersby about the person who has died, to send a message about their life and perhaps the people who miss them. We can do this in several ways: by the material we choose or the words we pick, but another is by adding detail to the memorial. Detailing comes in many forms, but one of the requests we often receive is to see if we can add an image of an insect.

There is plenty of symbolism to be found when we consider insects and other small creatures. The idea of a world which is going on, unseen, under our noses is very powerful to people. We are also increasingly understanding that the smallest of creatures have a big impact on our lives, for example recent research that suggests that our ecosystem could not survive without wasps. We also may associate certain insects (and spiders) with certain traits or qualities, such as:

• Butterflies: transformation
• Spiders: luck, affluence, creativity
• Ants: hard work or strength
• Grasshoppers: luck
• Fireflies: light in darkness
• Ladybirds: good fortune
• Bees: nature, countryside, hard work

Bees have special resonance as representing a society that collaborates in a common goal and convey both ideas of the countryside and industry. The city of Manchester is often symbolised by the worker bee. Flying insects also convey ideas of freedom and release which might be especially poignant in remembering someone if they have been unwell and not able to get about as they once did.

The use of an insect on a memorial can therefore convey messages about them to those who pass by and see it. Someone who loved nature and wildlife might be well-conveyed by decorating their memorial with bees- or they may have kept them as a hobby or part of their income. One of the key features of a memorial is the stories it is able to tell about someone. They can also convey particular climates or places:

• Dragonflies: lakes and rivers
• Scarabs: Egypt or deserts
• Butterflies: country meadows or summertime
• Ladybirds: stems of flowers
• Moths and fireflies: night-time and stars

Of course, you can create a whole landscape if you want to. The type of material you choose for the stone may have an impact on this. The bright colours of a butterfly will stand out against a dark granite and the need to sandblast the design will result in a clean and sharp shape. A country meadow teeming with bees and butterflies might be well-suited to a stone which can be hand carved, you can then commission one of our letter cutters to create a one-of-a-kind piece of artwork. Slate headstones are particularly suitable for a large-scale piece. The difference in colour between the stone’s face and its inner can provide contrast and emphasise the image which has been created.

We always need to provide anyone who has strong ideas about the type of stone they want that not all burial places will allow memorials to be decorated in all ways. Some may have very strict rules as to what is permitted, not only in terms of detailing but in terms of the materials permitted. You may need to make modifications to your ideal design. It might be that the outline of a single butterfly is thought acceptable where a field of shiny yellow bees is not. However, part of J.Gumbrill’s expert service is to work with you to understand the regulations and we will try to assist in ensuring that the proposed memorial meets those criteria and is accepted for installation in due course.