The Fool’s Gold Beetle Small Riso Print / Woodfolk Collection

✨🪲✨The Fool’s Gold Beetle ~ October’s Riso Subscription print is headed out to patrons who paid on or before October 1! Riso printed in fluorescent pink, blue and yellow, it’s in my shop now as well.

“Beware of running and hiding in caves during a summer storm, you never know if you’re wandering unprepared into the Spider Demons cave. Called the Mouth of Hell by some, and feared for its horrible lizard-like Hell Hounds, its entrance changes often so the spider demon can leave their cave and hunt through storm disturbed silt and clay for recently uncovered gold. If the Spider Demon can find no gold, then out of boredom they’ll wander down to the village and terrorize the local community. One way to appease the demon is to bring it gold yourself and leave it at the entrance, but if you have no gold then an alternative might trick them to move their cave away quickly.

On the wild sweet potato vine in the late summer you can find a golden beetle, which looks like the flakey fool’s gold rock called Pyrite. If you collect enough of them then together they sleep, and look like little nuggets of gold. Look for them on the vines that grow near the river, with the purple flowers and the twisted leaves. Bring the beetles deep into the cave, until you find the ancient entrance built by the First Disturbers. There, release the beetles and leave slowly, to make it look like a proper tribute of gold. The Spider Demon will rejoice in their cave full of gold, and your village will be safe, until the summer rains come again next year.”

My story of the Fool’s Gold Beetle will be collected into a series of short stories soon- with more illustrations! For now, please enjoy this piece I made to accompany the story.

This is a three color Risograph print, made by layering fluorescent pink, blue, and yellow Riso ink.

Printed by Natalie Andrewson in her Los Angeles studio. Size is 8 1/2 x 11 on smooth 65lb. natural white paper. Originally made for her monthly Riso print subscription on patreon and the Mythos Show at Gallery Nucleus. 

*Risograph is an imperfect printing process made by layering different colored inks to create rich and vibrant images. Because this process requires adding one layer of ink at a time, slight differences in registration are natural and sometimes roller marks from the machine can occur. This is just a quirk of working with this printmaking method that makes each print unique! I always inspect each Riso print for good print registration and send them with care in a stay-flat mailer within a bubble mailer. I currently ship out once per week, please allow for 1-2 weeks shipping time. Thank you!