/* */ Beulah Bee

October 30, 2014

Treats


The image I used for this tag shows a little girl dressed up in costume and I'm pretty sure it wasn't for Halloween but instead, illustrates the Victorian obsession with fairies.

The following explanation came from a book review on Amazon:

Clap if you believe in fairies! The Victorians did, writes Carole Silver in Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness, but she's not exactly talking about Tinkerbell here. Silver prefers the more gruesome and treacherous species of fay: changelings and vampires, brownies and goblins. The Victorians took these creatures very seriously, indeed, and according to Silver, this belief tapped into some of their society's most fundamental anxieties. Fear of physical deformity, of women's sexual power, of racial or class difference: these were the true bogeymen that haunted the Victorian imagination, and they responded with a flood of art, literature, and theater that portrayed these imaginary creatures with equal measures of fascination and horror.

Now days, Halloween has become an extremely popular holiday and rivals Christmas or Easter with its enthusiastic decoration and celebration. Is it because we suffer from similar anxieties?

About my tag: A cutting from Tim's Wallflower paper stash was used for the background. I love the lithographic quality of this paper and brought out some of the details with Gelly Roll pens.

I further embellished with Stickles which I store upside down to keep the thick solution close to the tip and always ready for use.

A light touch with colored pencils helped to tint the little fairy's dress and provide a shadow for her to stand on.

I'm linking this post to the Monday blog challenge at Simon Says Stamp where this week's theme is treats. Happy Halloween, everyone--I hope it's full of sweets!