An original 10" x 10" mixed media painting on a cradled wood panel, The Invisible Wings of Bees is part of a collection of work inspired by the poems of Miho Nonaka in her book The Museum of Small Bones.
 
My subject springboards from Nonaka's poem "Contained Things" which is about relationships. The title of my painting originates from a line in the poem, "I could hear the wings of invisible bees between people." 
 
I depicted the electric tension between men and women visually by utilizing illustrations which fade in and out of one another in surprising ways.
 
I juxtaposed elements from nature such as shells, bees, and goldfish with the human drama and emotional ambiguity present in the figures. Is the woman delighted or sad, saying yes or no?
 
I used circles to emphasize the feeling of containment. To underscore raw feelings I utilized heavy texture. I attempted to convey the power of acutely observed inner connections in an everyday moment.
 
Like the poem, we observe and feel deeply but ultimately find the circumstances around us mysterious