An exhibit of "Of Moths and Other Insects," the works of John Cody of Hays, Kansas, and Gilles Bosquet of Paris, France will be on display at Lawrence Public Library’s gallery from July 1 to August 9. John’s watercolor paintings of Saturniid moths include some new pieces not previously displayed at a Guild meeting. Gilles has also included new works, including a painting of Salyavata variegata that is not to be missed. In addition to the exhibit, two display cases in the library’s southern entry hall are devoted to information about the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators and the 2002 Conference.

John Cody’s lifetime passion for Saturniidae, the giant silkworm moths, began at the tender age of five when he discovered a Cecropia moth on a tree near his home in Brooklyn, New York. This beautiful, fuzzy creature fascinated him. Since it did not try to escape, as did the butterflies he chased, he thought perhaps it could defend itself and left the moth alone. When he returned later that day, the moth had been destroyed. John spent the next few years trying to draw the moth from memory, convinced he had seen the last of its kind. But when John was eleven, his uncle found some cocoons. John then learned that one could rear moths, eventually raising them on his own as he still does to this day. John’s first show of moth works occurred when he was sixteen, and his art teacher matted John’s graphite illustrations and displayed them in two halls. John started experimenting with watercolors while studying medical illustration at Johns Hopkins University. Later, while working as a staff artist in the Caribbean island of Trinidad for Dr. William Beebe, John had the opportunity to see more giant silkmoths, as well as discover British sources for silkmoth cocoons. These events renewed his passion for these exquisite insects. The book Wings of Paradise: The Great Saturniid Moths by Richard S. Peigler is illustrated with John Cody’s paintings.

John Cody was presented with the Kansas Artist Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 by the Governor of Kansas, a high point in a career that spans many decades and includes a rich pantheon of experience in art, medicine, and travel. A resident of Hays, Kansas, John is currently retired but hard at work. John has been a M.D. since 1960, an artist since birth, and a medical illustrator from 1947 to 1955. Other highlights of John’s art career include a one-man show at the Smithsonian Institution. John is also proud of his forty-seven years of happy marriage and his three children.

Gilles Bosquet received a Masters in Biology from Pierre and Marie Curie University School of Science in 1998. During his last two years at the university, he had the opportunity to work at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris as a lecturer on scientific illustration, and worked on projects of cultural activities for the Museum. He discovered the works and reproductions of the prestigious Collection of Vellum in the Museum, and he became fascinated with its history. Vellum is a fine parchment, originally made of calfskin and traditionally used for fine manuscripts. The works of past and contemporary artists such as Redouté and particularly Bernard Durin awed him. Durin’s works gave him a taste for the possibilities of natural and scientific illustration, especially in entomology. Gilles was a pupil of Mr. Le Roc'h (graphic designer and scientific illustrator in the gallery of evolution at the Museum). The desire to create entomological illustrations on vellum and to enrich the Collection became a driving passion for Gilles, and he applied for support to attain this goal. In 2000, the Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet Foundation of Vocation awarded him a scholarship for his project to enlarge the Collections’ holdings of entomological illustrations on vellum. Gilles has produced two intricate, exquisitely detailed museum-quality vellum illustrations under the project. Gilles’ client list includes the French Post Office, the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, the Botanical Garden of Tours, France, Magellanes Editions, CNRS (National Center of Research and Science), and Nausicaa, the National Center of Oceanography.