Thursday, May 10, 2007

Ghost Town

We once had some wonderful next-door neighbors who kept bees in their beautiful garden. It was fascinating to see the bee-keeping & honey-harvesting process at such close range. Alas, when they finished their degrees (in plant pathology & entomology) they moved away... I really miss them. (Hello out there, Elizabeth & Jennifer!)

Now there is a mysterious bee-keeping crisis-- honey-bees are disappearing at a frightening rate. Normally bees come back to the hive to die, but these are just vanishing, & no-one is quite sure why.

So this image is for the missing & for those left behind...
I was in a rush this time so did it all digitally. The text source is a children's book of 1886 called Natural History for Little Folks. Click for a larger image & a better look at the lonely bee...

20 comments:

Janice Ykema said...

i absolutely love this piece Leah.. there is a natural flow.. the patterning is lovely with words and the hive itself and the little bumblebee breaks the eye and adds interest
Very very nice..

ElizT said...

Beautiful and interesting.

Greg Hartman said...

Great geometrics and concept, and it blends from the homes to the honeycomb so well...and nice rich colors. I've heard recently that some scientists have speculated the recent loss of the bee populations to the wider use of cell phones! Disturbing their navigation process with the altered magnetic field!?

HOLLi CONGER said...

This piece is great!

° said...

great concept and design beautifully done

Michelle Lana said...

awesome design!

arvindh said...

This is cute and also very beautifully rendered.

Kstyles said...

Your work is so amazing. I love it. Poor lil' lonely bee.

randomness said...

Doesn't look it was done quickly. I love the little chimneys and doors It's so cute. great job.

Digital Scott's Illustrationblog said...

Such excellent work! And I can't believe you mentioned this. Someone told me about this just last week, except he said it has something to do with cell phones and the towers throwing off the bees so they can't find their way back to the hive!

I always get excited when I see your thumbnail in IF!

How's the web site going???

Richard Franklin said...

Niecly done Leah! I like the way you cleverly shaped the roofs to match the honeycombs, and the questioning chimney smoke. Your poor little bee looks very lonely and worried.
A timely image, as this issue has been getting a lot of coverage lately.

JO said...

Your work is so beautifully, love the sad little bee.

Tami @ Lemon Tree Tales said...

I just love the face on the bee ... so forlorn and bewildered. Great illustration!

Tracy said...

This work is absolutely gorgeous! Ironic that today I presented at a teacher leader workshop and one of the senior associates of the center pointed out the plight of the honeybee just this morning. This piece is beautiful; love how the individual honeycombs look like houses. So sad and empty except for one lone bee. :(

Rodrigo Melo said...

Tadinha da abelinha!!!!!!!!!heheheh
Muito bom trabalho!!!
Parabéns!!

studio lolo said...

Wow, so much to love about this! The words that fill the background, the forlorned bee, the colors. Just excellent really.

Eoinymac said...

Your work is amazing!

Michelle said...

wow, wow, wow! Wouldn't that be something if our use of cell phones was the ultimate cause for this. I love your intrepretation of this, and your personal story.

Liz Jones said...

Lovely, lovely illo-- and how funny that we were both thinking about bees! I really hope we can find the solution to the current bee crisis-- such an odd problem.

Kola Remaz said...

Wonderful piece!! Great Art! You bring back high and strong quality in the world of design.