Back in 2004—the same year as I moved into my studio at One Cottage Street—I was invited to exhibit my paintings at Woodstar Café in Northampton, Massachusetts. For the theme, I decided to interpret “a day in the life of a bee.” This provided ample opportunity to explore a diverse array of imagery. The title of the series, Place To Bee, is inspired by a Nick Drake song Place To Be.
Black-Eyed Susans
Several of the paintings in this series involved flowers. They’re such an interesting subject, what with all the repetition, pattern, and color. This one stylistically interprets a couple of black-eyed susans—one of my favorite flowers. I painted this pair of beauties using oil paint, mixed with just enough medium to make it malleable. In this way, I was able to render the scene in an impasto style, where the brush strokes are very three-dimensional, thick, and textural.
Hunny Bee
Not long after I’d hung the show at Woodstar, I received a voicemail message on my home phone’s answering machine (remember those?) from a fellow who introduced himself as a professional apiarist. In his message, he enlightened me to the anatomical incorrectness of my “Honey Bee.” I had assumed—incorrectly—that the swirly shapes on the wings would be a giveaway that this was a fantastical interpretation of the noble Apidae, not a literal one. So to be clear, I have retitled this one Hunny Bee. Hopefully the reference to Winnie the Pooh will be an adequate nod to its stylistic intent.