Sunday, February 27, 2011

Illustration Friday - Swarm

Queen Bee
Ink,  marker and watercolor on mat board
4x6 inches

Wow!  It has been too long since I have participated in Illustration Friday and I am having serious withdrawal.  I may have to commit to another 1 year goal to make sure that I stay motivated to keep it up.  

This is just a quick one this week, but it had me thinking about the zen of being at one with nature.  Nature and I have a love hate relationship.  I consider myself something of a nature girl, but become literally depressed when things don't grow and flourish in the ways I envision.  We have had terrible drought conditions here in Texas for at least four of the six years that we have been back.  I have had very little success at growing anything.  OK, in reality I have a black thumb.  My husband commented on it just yesterday when I was fondling the plants in the garden department at Lowe's.  But despite my general ineptitude with growing things, I have always been happiest outside, breathing in fresh country air.  And I like to think that I will eventually get better at nurturing nature, if I just keep at it.  (And don't forget to water)

I remember being particularly concerned about the state of the natural world a couple of years ago when I heard that bees were disappearing.   Apparently a bee virus was decimating bee colonies, but they seem to be making a comeback.  I am still pretty upset about the fact that I haven't seen a firefly in several years.  No one really knows what has happened there.  But on the positive side, ground dwelling birds have returned to East Texas.  I have been seeing road runners and killdeer again for several seasons now.  Apparently the fire ants are finally finding a balance.  That is the thing about nature, isn't it?  It always finds balance.  How Zen!




14 comments:

  1. Interesting concept and nice movement.

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  2. Love this! I love that you've found peace and beauty in a word that often evokes the opposite. Beautiful outlook, beautiful art!

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  3. that's really cool ♥
    Hope you see fireflies return.

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  4. I love the dinamycs of the picture. :-)

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  5. Great illustration and original too!

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  6. Nice illustration. I worry about the bees and other things too. We need to stop using so many chemicals in the world. Fireflies are important :)

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  7. To Bee or not to Bee.. Nice drawing!
    Thank you for stopping by my blog.
    I read you are a teacher. We absolutely have to be serious about protecting our nature, and the best way to do so is by spreading the word. Teaching our children NOW and praying for more love, acceptance and understanding between one another.
    Destruction comes from selfishness and lack of love. Who is happy and loved has no need to take vengence upon helpless nature's creations.

    Glad to be your fellow blogger! :)

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  8. This is sure fun! Scary, but she must be quite a gal.

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  9. The swarm of bees in harmony with the serenity of the character. Nice artwork!

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  10. Nice beehive! A great twist to the topic.

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