National Pollinator Week

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Eight years ago, the U.S. Senate’s unanimous approval and designation of a week in June as “National Pollinator Week” marked a necessary step toward addressing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations. The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture signs the proclamation every year. This year’s Pollinator Week will take place June 15-21, 2015. Plant your pollinator friendly (pesticide free) garden – speak with your children and grandchildren about the beautiful gifts our pollinators provide and make this not only a week of awareness, but a new year of a personal commitment to doing all you are able to do to protect them. 

Nature’s Bounty, is a very small piece, not unlike the honeybee. Amidst a field of white clover, one solitary honeybee visits the clover – one tiny (and difficult to find without intention) honeybee symbolic of how easy it is for us to overlook them in nature as well. The textural base of the piece was created using actual honeycomb from a hive of bees my brother tends on our family farm in PA. Each time we sell a Nature’s Bounty from the studio, we donate a portion (between 10 and 30%) of the sale to one of the organizations helping support our pollinators via education, research and other efforts. Often we support Pollinator Partnership with these donations; or an organization of the collector’s choice.

During the month of June the studio will again offer complimentary packing and shipping (within the USA),  in honor of National Pollinator’s Week. As always, we will also place a donation, in your honor, at your choice of organizations supporting efforts to insure the future of our pollinators.

Remembering our Beloved Pollinators

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Close-Up of Nature’s Bounty

“Eight years ago, the U.S. Senate’s unanimous approval and designation of a week in June as “National Pollinator Week” marked a necessary step toward addressing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations.  The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture signs the proclamation every year. This year’s Pollinator Week will take place June 15-21, and the Pollinator Partnership has been contacting every governor’s office in America to request a state proclamation in support of the federal observance.
 
We already have 15 signed proclamations and many more on their way from governors across the U.S. We still need the support of in-state individuals and organizations from ALABAMA, ALASKA, KANSAS, LOUISIANA, NEW YORK, and SOUTH DAKOTA. If you or someone you know is from any of these states, please ask them to submit a proclamation request online or call their governor’s office to voice their support for Pollinator Week 2015. Feel free to use the sample proclamation text available at http://pollinator.org/npw_action.htm. Please see the relevant contact information below.” – Pollinator Partnership 2015

 

I love that the United States has designated a National Pollinator Week. Even more, I would love if it also meant we are each taking active steps in helping to save our beloved pollinators with our actions everyday. Planting a pesticide free garden is the easiest and likely the best way to become a part of this practice. Speaking with our children and grandchildren about the habits, gifts and beauty of various pollinators is a wonderful practice they will enjoy – and one which will nurture future protection for them. I hold a particular passion for our honeybees; though each of our pollinators are indeed at risk. The honeybee however, provides us with so many of the fruits and vegetables we eat on a daily basis it feels paramount for us to be acting on their behalf now. Notice I used the word “our” rather than “the” when referring to honeybee. They are indeed ours to care for – ours to protect. They belong to each of us. They feed each of us daily. To ignore their plight may be akin to ignoring our mothers and fathers. The fact that they are so small allows us to easily completely take them for granted and forget all about the miraculous work they do on our behalf.

 

We can also learn a great deal about these incredible workers and allow them to offer us some deep and warm inspiration regarding the blessings of working in community. Their habits, their vision, their language, their tenacity are each profoundly amazing and inspiring attributes. Read more here.

 

Several years ago I created a bronze vessel specifically on behalf of protecting our honeybees: Nature’s Bounty. It is a very small piece, not unlike the honeybee. Amidst a field of white clover, one solitary honeybee visits the clover – one tiny (and difficult to find without intention) honeybee symbolic of how easy it is for us to overlook them in nature as well. The textural base of the piece was created using actual honeycomb from a hive of bees my brother tends on our family farm in PA. Each time we sell a Nature’s Bounty from the studio, we donate a portion (between 10 and 30%) of the sale to one of the organizations helping support our pollinators via education, research and other efforts. Often we support Pollinator Partnership with these donations; or an organization of the collector’s choice. Read more here.

National Pollinators Week

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This is National Pollination Week – a week for not only celebration but even more so a welcome reminder to create lifestyle choices and habits that protect our beloved and vital pollinators. Six years ago the U.S. Senate’s unanimous approval and designation of a week in June as “National Pollinator Week” marked a necessary step toward addressing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations.  Pollinator Week has now grown to be an international celebration of the valuable ecosystem services provided by bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles. The growing concern for pollinators is a sign of progress, but it is vital that we continue to maximize our collective effort.  The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture signs the proclamation every year. [Read more…]

USDA and EPA Report on Honeybee Health

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Kim Flottum of Catch the Buzz (kim@BeeCulture.com) has just posted this recent report on the status of our honeybees. It is a worthy read and even more worthy of not only our attention but our personal action. We must – each of us – commit to new practices in eliminating our use of pesticides. The honeybees are wisely and profoundly showing us the results of decades of abuse and neglect. Our future food sources and health are clearly at stake. Please read below and continue to remain abreast of the latest developments and political/regulatory resistances. Each of us indeed hold the power to create change – yet we must make the choices in our daily lives that demonstrate our true commitment. The power of even a very small group of committed people is enormous and perhaps the only avenue to bring change to our world. Read below….and particularly the final paragraph. [Read more…]

Celebrating Earth Day

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GINKGO SEED OF HOPE Dove in FlightNatures Bounty_Close_Up_EmailInVinoVeritasI_2crop_emApril 26th is Earth Day – a day profoundly worthy of our attention. While we celebrate on the 26th of April, my hope is that it is more than a day of recognition and celebration. I hope it is a day of renewed commitment to our individual habits of truly caring for this miraculous earth and her infinite gifts to us. No matter where we live, there is always nature in some form or another calling for our attention – our appreciation and our respect. If you have not yet viewed the amazingly wonderful BBC video titled Planet Earth I hope you will this year. Much of the footage is the result of first time ever capturing remote places and creatures on film  –  it is beyond miraculous. Nature not only brings us utter beauty in all her seasons, she also inspires us to follow her wisdom in infinite ways. She is a wise and wondrous teacher. My work as an artist has been richly and consistently inspired by the map of nature – the wisdom of nature – the rich and potent connection of nature to the spiritual realms.

Perhaps this year on Earth Day you might commit to adding one more element of caring to your daily habits. It may be something as simple as noticing and respecting insects instead of simply squishing them with your foot – closely watching the spring budding in progress with deep appreciation and awe – walking outdoors daily with an open heart of gratitude – and planting something – anything – and caring for it as it grows.  Planet Earth is not the only living planet but as its stewards, it is ours alone to nurture and appreciate. It is our home on this earthly journey and caring for it respects not only the earth but ourselves at once. In reality, there is no separation between it and us – we are one. Caring for our blessed earth is indeed caring ourselves and each other – today and for the many generations to come.

Pollinator Partnership Opportunity

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Act now to support the Pollinator Partnership KICK START Program of bringing educational awareness of the importance of the bee population to the schools in North America. Only two weeks remain in the kickstart program and donations begin as low as one dollar – everyone can participate. I am a firm believer that though we may not be able to move mountains alone – if each of us participates in whatever way possible, even the smallest gift will indeed become a vital act in making an enormous and positive difference.

The goal of the program is to support teachers, administrators, after school programs, churches, and more in guiding students through a discovery process that will increase 3,000 students’ understanding in science, math, and language arts by connecting them to plants, pollinators, food, and gardens by creating habitat for pollinators with their BeeSmart(TM) School Garden Kit.  They/I believe that getting children outside and into the garden is the most valuable part of this experience.

Raising $15K will put the gift of environmental education in the hands of at least 3,000 3rd through 6th grade students across the United States.

Each Kit has components that can be used at school, at home, and online to maximize the learning experience. Although they know a diverse group of schools will be using this Kit, they have included the California School Standards at the end of each Lesson Plan as a point of reference.  There will also be recommendations that will help connect community resources to the outdoor classroom.

The BeeSmart™ School Garden Kit Includes:

  • Pre- and post-tests
  • 10 lesson plans with accompanying reproducible worksheets
  • Materials for lesson plan activities
  • Reproducible handouts
  • Access to additional BeeSmart™ School Garden Kit materials on the Pollinator Partnership website at www.pollinator.org.

The Pollinator Partnership (P2) is a 501(c)3 non-profit whose mission is to promote the health of pollinators, critical to food and ecosystems, through conservation, education, and research. Signature initiatives include the NAPPC (North American Pollinator Protection Campaign), National Pollinator Week, and the Ecoregional Planting Guides.

For more information please visit the Pollinator Partnership website at www.pollinator.org.

Please consider a donation today – at any level – and support this worthy program while also giving support to our children and the educational programs so vital to their healthy growth – and future contributions to our planet.

Artists for Conservation Festival Oct 13 – 21 Grouse Mountain | North Vancouver

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Artists for Conservation Festival  Oct 13 – 21

Grouse Mountain | North Vancouver

The Artists for Conservation (AFC) Festival opens on October 13 thorough October 21st on Grouse Mountain Resort, North Vancouver, B.C.  AFC will bring the world’s top conservation-themed exhibit of original nature and wildlife art, film, live painting demos, adult and youth workshops to this unique event. The festival will include renowned artists such as Robert Bateman, Guy Combes, David Kitler, Andrew Denman, Mark Hobson, Pollyanna Pickering and many others. My work (Nature’s Bounty and Celestial Joy) has been juried into both the live and the virtual exhibit. This international exhibit features extraordinary and highly talented artists all of whom are are highly committed to continuously working in partnership with many conservation efforts around the globe.

National Honey Bee Day, August 18, 2012

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August 18, 2012 is National Honey Bee Day.  The world’s honeybee population has been in an alarming decline for the past nearly decade; and continues to decline today. In the mid 2000’s a virus threatened the vibrance of the life of the honeybee; and today Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) presents the greatest challenge yet with its unique set of lethal symptoms. I hold a very deep and growing concern regarding the alarming rate of the honeybees continual disappearance (along with other bees and insects); and the yet inconclusive –or at least ineffective – results of the massive research completed surrounding CCD.  One highly regarded author, Michael Schacker, in A Spring Without Bees (2008), suggests we have the answers, for the most part, to their disappearance yet we have been unable, as a society, to accept the evidence which would strongly indicate a critical need to change many of our ways of living.  Schacker believes the major culprit to be our increased use of pesticides and our ever-increasing potency of them. His book presents an absolutely alarming, and very well documented collection of the history of their disappearance along with the research efforts and results. He also highlights the role of the EPA and its regulations and practices; as well as the role of major manufacturing companies of the many pesticides we use so freely today. It is clearly a book worthy of one’s time and deepest reflection.

The honeybee pollinates about one third of the food we eat today – including fruits, vegetables, and nuts.  Without these foods, our dietary intake would need to change dramatically leaving grave deficiencies.  The honeybee truly feeds us through its relentless work as an amazingly intelligent and organized colony.  I hope we are, collectively, able to wake up to the alarming cry of the honeybee and see in its disappearance the grandest of requests for us to re-evaluate, with very new eyes, our way of tending our natural world and our changing farming and gardening  practices.  I believe we can truly no longer afford to make decisions based primarily upon financial gain or ease of labor over the value of a healthy source of nutrition and a balanced, non-toxic and sustainable ecosystem.

The honeybee builds combs that are flat, vertical panels of highly uniform six-sided (hexagonal) cells. Six, is the number of absolute harmony. It is a delight to reflected upon the wonderful mystery of how these seemingly tiny insects hold the intellect to build such precise cells in absolute uniformity and in the form of perfect harmony. This feels to me to be an immense and wondrous gift and inspiration. They clearly point the way toward building harmony – collectively.

The foraging bees return to the hive once finding an excellent source of pollen and nectar. Using the amazing and intricate waggle dance, they share the precise location of this excellent source with the other bees in the hive.  I wonder how different our communities might look if we too were to be inspired to share our greatest treasures, as we discover them, with all others in our communities that we might work together to best feed ourselves and nurture others? The honey bees’ sense of authentic partnership and community is richly inspiring. They simply trust the pure nature of sharing in the richest sense of community.

Symbolically, the bee is noted in many traditions as carrying a heavenly import. J.C. Cooper, in the Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols (1978) suggests: “Bees often represent the stars and are also winged messengers carrying news to the spirit world; telling the bees of a death or important event, is to send a message to the next world or the spirits.”  Could the bees be communicating with the heavens – the spirit world, indicating we are perhaps well out of balance in our care of the natural world?  In the Christian context, the bee hive is symbolic of the church – and in our world today, is the traditional church collapsing in many ways right along with the hives? Have we been blinded to seeing with clear vision the vital essence of both? The Celtics propose the bee represents secret wisdom coming from the other world. Could we perhaps learn much from their habits (secret wisdom) of highly organized partnership, harmony and communication?

Jack Tresidder, in his book  1001 Symbols; suggests that few if any creatures have symbolized more ethical virtues than the bee. “Apart from being associated with many divinities, its industrious habits and social organization were a gift to the writers of homilies. The Christian monastic community was equated with a beehive… The 12th century mystic Bernard of Clairvaux likened the bee to the Holy Spirit.”

In celebration of the National Honey Bee Day event, hoped to bring a growing  awareness to the honey bee and its potent gifts for each of us (if we like to eat, that is) Alleman Studios  is offering complimentary packing, freight and insurance for the purchase of Nature’s Bounty direct from the studio through the month of August 2012.  As always, we will also make a donation from the profits of the sales to one of the many organizations supporting research, education and awareness regarding the honey bee. Nature’s Bounty is a very small, wonderfully beautifully vessel presenting a field of common white clover and a single honey bee.  Started in 2009, The National Honey Bee Day’s mission is three-fold:  Promotion and advancement of beekeeping; education of the public to honey bees and beekeeping; and continuing to make the public aware of environmental concerns affecting the honey bees (their own kind of waggle dancing).

For more information regarding this event and other honey bee facts visit: www.nationalhoneybee.com

Celebrating National Pollinators Week

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June 18-24 I will be celebrating National Pollinator Week through the release of my newest  bronze vessel, Nature’s Bounty – a very small bronze vessel of white clover with a single pollinating honeybee.  The white clover plant is a vital and nourishing source of nectar and pollen for the honeybee.  My 2011 release of Celestial Joy celebrates the black-chinned hummingbird (another      important pollinator) amidst a brilliantly radiant cluster of wild, orange alpine lilies. As many of you know, I was raised on a small farm in rural Lancaster County, PA. I  grew up with many hives of honeybees consistently pollinating the diverse and abundant crops, including a vibrant orchard on our farm. My paternal grandfather was the beekeeper in those days while my brother continues the tradition today.

While my work has always been richly inspired by the wisdom and beauty of nature, in recent years Ihas become an ever growing advocate for various conservation efforts –particularly regarding pollinators.  My concern over the alarmingly diminishing population of the honeybee was the stirring motivation for this newest release Nature’s Bounty. I hope the piece, while bringing a slice of artistic beauty into our world, equally raises awareness of the currently desperate state of the honey bee – and a response that will insure its survival. Nature’s Bounty will be offered in a more unusual unlimited edition with hopes it will empower the spread of awareness regarding pollination conservation to infinite levels; while offering a very affordable work of museum quality art to collectors around the globe. It features a single tiny honeybee – easy to miss if you do not know it is there while mirroring how very easy it is for us to “miss” giving attention to the honeybee and it’s survival when seeing one in nature.

Nearly one-third of the food we eat today in North America is pollinated by the honey-bee. Without the honeybee, most of the vegetables and fruits we take for granted will simply disappear or depend upon human pollination.  Since 2006, the honeybee population has been declining at an alarming rate with still unknown causes of the devastating and stressful Colony Collapse Disorder. More than yet another beautiful bronze vessel, Nature’s Bounty is an appeal to the public, to plant bee and insect friendly gardens and reduce the use of toxic pesticides to help insure the balance and sustainability of our ecosystem.  As a commitment to the conservation efforts in regard to the honeybee, Alleman Studios will designate a portion of the profits from its sales  of Nature’s Bounty to benefit various non-profit organizations fighting to bring awareness, research, and sustainable solutions to our world regarding the honeybee and other valuable pollinators.  Other pollinators such as butterflies and hummingbirds also appear in my body of work.  To learn more about  Nature’s Bounty, Celestial Joy and the honeybee visit the website section presenting each of these pieces – associated writing will follow below the images of the artwork.

You may also learn more about pollination conservation by visiting the San Francisco based Pollinator Partnership website at http://pollinator.org/index.html.  The Pollinator Partnership’s mission is to promote the health of pollinators, critical to food and ecosystems, through conservation, education, and research. Signature initiatives include the NAPPC (North American Pollinator Protection Campaign), National Pollinator Week, and the Ecoregional Planting Guides.

Saint Patrick’s Day Celebration of the Clover

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Here we are in March already. Time surely seems to be collapsing as the first day of spring is less than two weeks away. On March 17th many will celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day and green clovers (shamrocks) will infiltrate our stores and homes.

Watch for our upcoming new release Nature’s Bounty to be released later this spring, featuring the white clover and honoring the vital honeybee. It is a very small piece with a very large appeal to truly awaken our conscious awareness of the importance of protecting our global colonies of honeybees. Surrounded by a blanket of clover leaves and while clover blooms, one single, tiny honeybee subtly finds nourishment in a bloom. With a closer look into this bronze field of blooming clover one will find a treasured four-leaf clover. Did you know that the tiny, remarkable honeybee is responsible for pollinating over one third of the fruits and vegetables we eat? Did you know they are declining in population at an absolutely alarming rate? These small and wondrous insects have one of the most sophisticated community habits in the insect world – they are both fascinating and wondrous.

While you celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day I invite you to also celebrate the clover as one of the most vital sources for the sustenance of the honeybee. Once released, you will find a plethora of facts on our website regarding both the clover and the honeybee. In addition, we will be posting a list of many simple steps you can take to share in protecting the honeybee from extinction.