Honey Bee Stories

Posted bySarah Blank 25 Comments on Honey Bee Stories

Bee imagery, stories, skeps, curtained little scenes, skeleton keys dangling on ribbon, bees flying away from her hive to the others, the ones high in the trees!

I have been working on the details of this piece for some time now, and it’s finally complete and I am happy with it so far. I think it has inspired a whole series, as my sketchbooks are full of various compositions such as this one.

Honey Bee Stories is now available as a print in my shop.

The original is 16″ by 20″ on an ampersand panel and it’s completed in acrylics and paper. There’s so many little areas of story going on here (besides the fact that it is curtained in a theater-like manner). I wanted the whole painting to be golden (and slightly antique in appearance), like transparent honey.

It’s hard to see all the details in my low resolution scan, so here are the snippets, the areas of story…

I matted a print and framed it with an antique frame I had been saving.

I just love to add little details.

I forgot how much I enjoy painting like this- small images and mysterious things going about in a larger, narrative painting. This piece was definitely an offshoot of a piece created two summers ago. Today will be spent in my cool studio room (thank goodness its too hot here to go outside midday!) sketching and working through the beginnings of another painting.

Have a great day!

25 replies on “Honey Bee Stories”

  2. oh wow sarah, this is so beautiful! I love it, especially the rich golden colors, its so lush and fanciful! One of my favorites your yours, to be sure!~

  3. Absolutely gorgeous!
    I’ve been working on a little book/collages inspired by honeybees as well. how strange!
    I must say though, that yours is waaaay better than what I am doing. I just love all the details and the mystery. I think it’s my favorite of your paintings do far.
    I am drawn to it.

    I also love the previous paintings you’ve posted. I find them all so inspiring.
    I always read your blog, but forget to comment and for that I apologize.
    I like reading your words and looking at your art.

    have a very nice day!

  5. Once again you have taken my breath away. This is so gorgeously amazing! Of course I have already swooped one up from your Etsy shop. 🙂
    I love how you mention the piece being an offshoot from your Birdcage & Ship paintings, as those are two other prints of yours that I own.
    It is amazing how it is like you are painting scenes that are in my soul (I really don’t know how else to phrase it). You have an amazing ability to take the images of objects I hold most dear and portray them in a way that illustrates the feelings in my heart. You create a world of beauty and I thank you for it.

    ~Michele

  10. I’m new to your blog….but, I now check it every day! I love this painting! My business logo is a skeleton key (interior designer, so it works, but I have always been drawn to them). I love seeing your work because it is inspiring me to get back to my oils. I always have such a hard time deciding what to paint and how to go about it.

    Thank you for sharing your gift!

    Mindy

  12. This looks terrific, Sarah! So many details in the painting – the red ribbons, the keys hanging from the beehives, the single file line of the bees from one hive to another, the fawn – have me wondering if they symbolize anything in particular for you? What was the story behind the painting? Or did you just let your mind wander and create in a collage-like fashion to create the final image?

Comments are closed.