So what is it about death imagery in pandemics?


We have now lost over 120,000 souls to COVID in the US, and sadly that number is going to keep climbing because we as a country didn’t have the discipline to stick with the necessary precautions. It didn’t help that we have a government that fed us misinformation instead of a clear action plan from the start, and then tragically made the simple act of wearing a mask political.

Now as a result all of us will know someone who has gotten COVID. I know at least half a dozen people that have had it, and one who has died, and this is far from over.

There’s a long history of artists making death imagery during pandemics. I encourage you to check out this great article on the topic Plague in Art: 10 Paintings You Should Know in the Times of Coronavirus.

So, here we are living through a serious pandemic and I find myself wanting to keep embroidering Dia de los Muertos skulls and you may wonder, why?

And what is Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead?

If you’re unfamiliar with the hispanic holiday of Dia de los Muertos, it’s a celebration of life, as well as, an opportunity to remember and honor someone that has died, and is celebrated each year October 31st-November 2.

Similarly, the Anglican tradition of All Souls day, on November 2nd, is a day of remembrance for loved ones who have passed, typically honored by bringing flowers, lighting candles, and spending time thinking about one’s relationship and influence that that person had on one’s life.

In medieval Spain, people brought wine and pan de ánimas (spirit bread) to their loved ones graves on All Souls Day; covering the graves with flowers and candles to help light the path for the dead souls’ journey back to their family’s homes.

When the Spanish conquistadores arrived in the New World they brought these traditions with them, along with a more macabre view of death influenced by the bubonic plague. Hence the inclusion of skeleton and skull imagery.

During the Day of the Dead holiday, it’s believed that the wall between the living and spirit worlds becomes permeable, allowing deceased friends and relatives to briefly return to the living and share in a feast of food, drink, music and dancing with their loved ones, as honored guests.

I think this is a much healthier way to embrace the passing of loved ones and celebrate lives and the transitions we all make on life’s journey.

After I embroidered my second skull and began printing another batch of skull embroidery patterns to put in my shop, I had an idea for a new variation of the original design to embroider.

I pulled out one of my floral fiesta thermafax screens and printed several flowers around the skull and loved the way it looked, but the whole design needed to be reworked in photoshop to get the proportions and layout right.

Oh what fun it is to think of all the different ways to stitch this.

I can see this basic design worked in several different ways. One would be to embroider all of it, like the one below.

Dia de los Muertos Floral

Or to embroider just the skull and leave the flowers in black and white, or to embroider the flowers and leave the skull in black and white. By the way, if your struggling to remember embroidery stitches, check out youtube there are lots of excellent ones to give you ideas.

I also designed a version with a floral wreath around the skull, this one has smaller flowers than the previous one, but boy you could go crazy with color, and leave some parts in black and white too, if you wanted.

Corona Floribunda

When I was looking up the Spanish word for wreath, I was surprised to find that it is ‘corona’. I previously thought corona was only a translation for crown. How apropos a name that turned out to be. I don’t have one stitched up to show you yet, but I thought I’d go ahead and make both embroidery designs available in the shop now.

Keep creating,

Judy


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ABOUT JUDY
Judy is an artist, explorer, image wrangler, knowledge seeker, instructor, speaker, creative alchemist, and purveyor of inspiration, helping others channel creativity on a daily basis.


7 responses to “So what is it about death imagery in pandemics?”

  1. hi Judy didn’t care too much for the skull by itself, always found the skulls a bit macabre, but with the addition of the Corona , I was hooked .,I tried buying the Corona Floribunda kit but it said it was $20 but when put through paypal the price jumped to $ 28. Could you clarify for me ? Thanks Judy By the way I think you are on to a good thing with these kits, good luck with them. They are really lovely .

  2. hi Judy didn’t care too much for the skull by itself, always found the skulls a bit macabre, but with the addition of the Corona , I was hooked .,I tried buying the Corona Floribunda kit but it said on the site that it was $20 but when put through paypal the price jumped to $ 28. Could you clarify for me ? Thanks Judy By the way I think you are on to a good thing with these kits, good luck with them. They are really lovely .

  3. hi Judy, , guess I am doomed not to get your skull kit after all. I tried buying it this morning but was told that you do not ship to Canada. I was so disappointed as I was looking forward to some summer stitchery.Really sorry about that as I do find the patterns really lovely. Thank you anyway and good luck.@

    • I’m so sorry Marilyn! I have never been able to figure out how to do international shipping on the shopping platform I use. I opted for the flat rate shipping to make things less complicated for US sales. International has so many variables and then there’s the additional forms that require international product codes, ack!, VAT taxes and more. It’s just beyond me without hiring a professional to figure it all out, and that’s not really an option for me right now. My sincerest apologies.

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