Monday, February 24, 2014

The Deathwatch Beetle



The Deathwatch Beetle. To attract mates these beetles create a tapping or ticking sound that can be heard in the rafters of old buildings on quiet nights. They are associated with quiet, sleepless nights and are named for the vigil kept beside the dying or dead, and by extension the superstitious have seen the deathwatch beetle as an omen of impending death. Deathwatch beetles have a famous mention in Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. I combined this with the Victorian love of fairies and their artworks that seem obsessed with turning insects into little cherubs. Original 8" x 10" Acrylic on acid free paper.

 See the finished The Deathwatch Beetle Painting at My Good Babushka.

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