The Great Bartholomew

Details Available in three sizes (8x10, 11x14, 13x17) Archival ink Textured cotton rag paper Hand-signed on back Packaged in clear sleeve Original story included Story Behind the Drawing Every year on the night of the Witch’s Moon, the Great Bartholomew soars across the sky to put on the most enchanting (and most elaborate) puppet show the world has ever seen. Although Bartholomew has been performing this particular show for over 300 years (a feat in itself considering that most bats only live 20 years or so), he spends the better part of the year preparing to make sure that every detail, no matter how small, is just right. He studies the stars to determine which constellations will be visible on the night of the show; he gathers vines and branches and leaves that will later be used as props, stowing them away in a special place lest a chipmunk mistake them for nesting materials; and he spends an innumerable number of hours practicing his twirls and his spins—so many hours in fact that, on occasion, the early birds wake up to find him still spinning and dancing across the sky despite the sun gleaming over the horizon. Finally, when show night arrives in October, Bartholomew uses the light of the full moon as his backdrop to tell spooky stories of ghost bears and witchy badgers and squirrels who should have found somewhere else to store their nuts other than the local cemetery. The forest folk hold their breath as Bartholomew performs, and, after he has taken his last swoop across the moon, they shower him with berries and fruits and standing ovations—and, more often than not, whisper about how they just can’t wait for next year’s show.