This piece, Bee, 2009, I created at the beginning of my gardening stages, and toward the beginning of the period of work I'm currently in -- depicting animals and insects I encounter everyday, ones that speak to me at pivotal times, and put them in a setting that includes the four natural elements; the animals I represent always have a totem significance in Native American cultures, and I often juxtapose meanings, or use them in combination.
While the garden this summer has been taking much of my time away from artistic pursuits, it seems that art was not left far behind. This is the first summer I have tried to grow flowers amongst my vegetables, and up sprouted a beautiful purple zinnia, which I took home. That day I rearranged the furniture (unplanned), putting my dining table below the framed original of the Bee. It wasn't until I stepped back several hours later that I realized what I had done -- I had created in my life something I had represented two years ago in my artwork.
