This is a hand signed matted 8"x10" print of an original watercolor painting titled "Penny the Garden Spider". Each image is printed with archival inks on watercolor paper stock for a long lasting print resistant to fading. For every print sold, I will be donating 10% of the profit to wildlife rehab facilities, organizations & sanctuaries.
Penny's Story: As a young child the idea of arachnids sent shivers up my spine & I won’t lie to you, they still do from time to time. However, the joy this particular orb-weaver brought me every morning started to slowly remove a 3 decades long fear of spiders. Every morning I open the blinds to my window in the bathroom to let the sun disperse its golden warmth. Now, I am not one of those people who delicately opens their blinds. I am the kind of monster who pulls the string down with an obnoxious amount of force like a child ripping off a ribbon on a birthday present. On this blazing morning in August, I was startled to see an also startled little face on the other side of the glass. This generously sized female garden spider began bouncing her web (a strategy used to scare off predators). Once we both calmed down, we were able to get a good look at each other, me with my two eyes & her with her eight. Thus, began what I like to think of as a very unlikely, but wonderful friendship. Over the next few months I got to watch Penny meticulously move throughout her intricate circular web & capture many different types of insects. She would spin them round & round with her silk turning them into a mummified snack. Garden spiders are known for their beautiful webs that have a very recognizable zig-zag pattern called a stabilimentum. According to National Wildlife Federation, the exact reason for this is unknown, but it is thought to maybe be an alert to birds about the presence of a web so they don’t fly through & destroy it. They are very beneficial to have in your habitat because they capture & eat many insects that are seen as “pests”. I don’t use any type of insecticide on my property so garden spiders are always welcome!
