Here's a piece that was accepted for a group exhibition next month. The show is part of First Fridays Ypsi, a monthly "art walk" in which local businesses in Ypsilanti host artists and performers, becoming ad hoc galleries and concert venues. The September version will accompany the Festival of the Honey Bee, a celebration of Apis mellifera and the sacred relationship we share with our favorite pollinators.
About the piece: it's approximately 11x15 in. and done using my most recent batch of Black Walnut ink (using last year's walnut husks). The Call for Submissions simply required that art be related in some ways to honey bees; I wanted to do something that deviated from the typical associations (adult bees, honeycomb/hexagons, flowers), and instead chose to depict a honey bee larvae in in mid development. The style is somewhat simple, as I hoped to show the contrast between the dark background and the pale, iridescent form of the larvae. The picture above failed to capture the texture from the ink, but I'm pretty happy with the final result. Getting much more comfortable with the black walnut ink...still need to work on my insect design.