Winged Death's Head

On my birthday last year I took the opportunity on that reflection to draw this mural of a winged death's head (skull) and some weeping willows on the back wall of my cellar. It is a charcoal drawing, made with char from the odd bits of wooden shelves that I couldn't use in the construction of the kettlehouse. The image itself is plucked from the funerary art on the gravestones of the puritans. They had a deep connection with death, as reflected in their art and poetry. The figure represents a rebirth of the spirit, and I made it to reflect the rebirth of the space, a former cheese cave and my craft. This figure is a sort of 'memento mori' figure, to remember all things will end as well as new beginnings. It has a banner coming from its mouth, but it is blank. I like to think about what it is saying to me each time I look at it and fill in the phrase.