This work depicts an imaginary beetle embroidered in an ornate, decorative style using black thread on off-white fabric. Drawn for artistic purpose rather than biological accuracy, the spiralling antennae, and curling legs, reinforce the idea of a wondrously imagined creature.

Valerie Potter is an artist of many disciplines, creating drawings, paintings, tapestries, embroidery, and poetry. She refers to her black and white embroideries, like this one, as line drawings - blurring the distinctions between different media as she crosses between them.

I love this work for its playful title, its celebration of the seemingly insignificant beetle, the wonder conjured by invoking the vastness of our macrocosmic universe, and the humbleness of its materials.