I was asked to create a gothic-themed faerie paperdoll, something along the lines of winged creatures who live between the realities, something of the twilight, having both dark and light qualities. The Absinthe Faerie (aka the Green Faerie or The Green Devil) was a natural choice for this...her presence felt by those who partake of the bitter potion that is Absinthe. While drawing the rough drafts for her, I received in the mail a wonderfully fragrant package from the bartender at Burning Man’s Absinthe Bar for the past 3 years...Fear Heiple. Inside I found carefully wrapped wormwood plants, one of which was a plant who sat in on the Absinthe Bar while others celebrated the Green Hour. So i got to tend the baby wormwoods (Artemisia Absinthium to be more precise) and in the process of caring for them I believe they blessed the paperdoll I was creating in honor of their Muse.

Inspiration for the Phorid Fly (aka Mausoleum Fly, Coffin Fly, and Corpse Fly) came from a man who is fairly obsessed with the funeral industry– and yes, it IS an industry, trust me. While conversing with Jimmi, I was horrified yet fascinated to learn of the embarassing problem of all Mausoleum owners...the ever-present Phorid Flies dining on the rotting corpses. This would not be such a horrible thing except for the fact that anyone visiting their departed loved ones can be infected with bacteria and disease transmitted by the tiny flies, who get quite thirsty in between bites of their meal, and who are fond of flying into the open mouths of talking or weeping visitors for a free drink...