The Holiday Approaches

Halloween spider ATC by Phillip Hoyle

A few posts ago I warned that Christmas is coming. I made the public announcement in order to motivate myself. Thankfully I got all my cards printed and am ready to rework my mailing list!


But of more imminent concern is the quick approach of Halloween, which concerns me not because of a costume. I won’t dress up this year. I don’t worry over candy; my partner takes care of that. But I do go to Artist Trading Cards swaps twice a month, and every October the theme is Halloween and Day of the Dead. The people I trade with get intensely interested in images related to human death—sometimes grossly, sometimes humorously. Usually for the October trades I have made miniature masks (2.5 x 3.5 inches) inspired by primal cultures or made up on my own. But this year I have turned, at least initially, to spiders. 

Take a look at the cards, but don’t get scared. I’ve been observing these interesting creatures as I clean the house and yard. I hope what I’ve done entertains you.



Denver, 2014