What’s the bright idea here?

I went down a rabbit hole on the internet and learned that an alliance called the Phoebus Cartel (sounds nefarious, right?) was formed in 1925 to reduce the lifespan of lightbulbs. This was reputedly to force people to buy them more often, although some dispute this and say that the shorter lifespan bulbs use less energy. I’m honestly not sure which is correct, but like most things, I am guessing the truth is likely somewhere in the middle. Lightbulbs lasted around 2,500 hours in 1925, but the cartel limited them to 1,000 hours.

This got me thinking on the idea of planned obsolescence, and the idea of things becoming obsolete in general. And that got me to… endangered moths! Yes, that’s right. Endangered moths. The two moths featured in this painting are the prairie sphinx moth (left) and the Patagonia eyed silkmoth (right).

The prairie sphinx moth or Wiest's primrose sphinx (Euproserpinus wiesti) is a species of moth found in areas of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. It is classified as critically endangered and included on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

The Patagonia eyed silkmoth exists in just one U.S. location, in an Arizona cemetery comprising less than half an acre. In Sonora, Mexico, it lives on two “sky islands,” which are higher elevation areas that are ecologically different from the lowlands surrounding them.

This watercolor painting measures 16x12” and is created on sealed Aquabord, which does not require framing under glass. It is sold unframed. Shipping is free.

Colors of original painting may be slightly different than what you see on your monitor screen. Artist signature, year of creation, and artwork title are included on back of painting. Copyrights remain with artist.