Halloween

There is much lore and myth surrounding bats. The one that stands out the most to me is the shape shifting of Dracula from the films of my youth. I also associate bats with Halloween. The Vampire Bat , of which there are three species, actually does feed on blood. So spooky! The species are the Common Vampire bat, the hairy-legged vampire bat and the White-winged Vampire bat.

My personal experience with bats is with the Midwest varieties in Illinois which are the Brown Bat and the Little Brown Bat. They are nocturnal and eat huge numbers of insects. When I lived on a river in Illinois I loved when they would come out at dusk because I knew they would put a dent in the mosquito population. Bats can catch and eat 500 or more insects per hour.

All bats use ultrasound to locate prey and avoid obstacles. They also make sounds to communicate with each other.

I know I may be in the minority, but I do love bats. I decided to do a seasonal theme in honor of Halloween, Dracula and the Vampire bat since this is an October show.

I used a 1.25" x 1.25" lampwork bat bead by Colorado Springs glass artist Maxine Grossman as the focal bead. I then created a black and orange bead woven necklace which is 18" long. The seed beads are size 8/o matte orange and black and size 5/o triangles. The clasp is a gold tone pewter toggle. The bat bead is accented with Swarovski crystals.