Kate O'Hara - Sylphs


Kate O'Hara
colored pencil and acrylic on vellum, 12"x17"
Sylphs are tiny messengers and companions to the gods. These minor deities are often mistaken for fairies or pixies–or go totally unnoticed, assumed to be commonplace animals. Each one is a hybrid of a mammal with insect wings, the most impressive is said to be the Death Head Fruit Bat. They spend their lives flitting unassumingly between the human and the spirit world, delivering messages and playing small tricks on people. When caught, their wings immediately disintegrate to dust, leaving no presence of their otherworldly nature.