The picture above is a class we were invited to give to elementary students in the Larabee public school in Fairhaven Washington . I love working with kids, we make such a connection.
In the late 80's, among other things, I kept beehives. I wanted our two boys to have a good experience in their childhoods while my wife Debbie and I were reliving ours. We drove up and down the streets of the little town we lived in, looking for opportunities to salvage plants and wood and other interesting things that were in the way of "progress". We had the energy and the space; all we needed were the materials.
First I dug a big vegetable garden, then I proceeded to dig an even bigger flower garden for Debbie than the one she all ready had. The fences I made were from branches gleaned from the local university's gardens which had been pruned and discarded. In the end we had three ducks, three geese, one cat, a small pony and too many rabbits. With winter coming on and the greenhouse completed, there was only the loneliness of seeing the garden turn cold and knowing the wait for spring would be long. Then something overly wonderful happened. Debbie, who I thought would tire of all of our projects, was always trying to stay busier than me and I of her, started making art from the twigs and flowers she had saved from our garden. She begged and begged me to help her build her growing menagerie of small art furniture and the rest is history. That's when my life as an Artist really began.
First I dug a big vegetable garden, then I proceeded to dig an even bigger flower garden for Debbie than the one she all ready had. The fences I made were from branches gleaned from the local university's gardens which had been pruned and discarded. In the end we had three ducks, three geese, one cat, a small pony and too many rabbits. With winter coming on and the greenhouse completed, there was only the loneliness of seeing the garden turn cold and knowing the wait for spring would be long. Then something overly wonderful happened. Debbie, who I thought would tire of all of our projects, was always trying to stay busier than me and I of her, started making art from the twigs and flowers she had saved from our garden. She begged and begged me to help her build her growing menagerie of small art furniture and the rest is history. That's when my life as an Artist really began.
The BeeBoy Works With Kids
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