These unique mixed media artworks explore the importance of healthy pollinator populations to maintain healthy ecosystems, and our interdependence upon these species to produce the fruits and vegetables we need to thrive.
Dad's Golden Comb
Dad's Golden Comb
Imagine standing only 12 feet from a beehive on a warm Florida day and watching the beekeeper examining the honey harvests as he holds up a frame of fresh honeycomb to the sun. Can you imagine the sweet scent of honey and beeswax wafting toward you as you admire the golden light flooding through the honey and bees hum their steady song? The beekeeper's voice guides you through years of accumulated knowledge about these remarkable creatures. You realize this moment honors not just the bees who pollinate a third of our food but also the artist's father, who tended them with care and taught you their importance. The gold sparkle pigment applied across the aluminum creates a subtle but mesmerizing effect where the yellow honey appears to glow and sparkle as light shifts throughout the day. The gentle hands holding the golden comb against the bright sun create a luminous composition that celebrates both family legacy and the irreplaceable work of pollinators. This unique artwork expresses the preciousness of both the honey bees’ produce and the relationships formed through shared respect for nature's gifts.
Envision this luminous artwork in your kitchen, dining room, or study, where it honors both family legacy and environmental stewardship. Guests are drawn to the glowing honey and ask about beekeeping, sharing their own family stories of gardens tended and wisdom passed down through generations. The piece connects to that universal desire to preserve what our parents taught us about caring for the earth and recognizing our dependence on creatures who work quietly to sustain us. This artwork celebrates the golden gifts of both familial love and pollinator abundance.
“My father kept bees for years and I had a chance to photograph his hive in Florida. I asked him to hold up the comb in front of the sun to light up the honey. This one-of-a-kind piece, titled “Dad’s Golden Comb,” is an homage to all that bees do for our food system. They produce honey and pollinate avocados, apples, and a bunch of other fruits and vegetables we eat every day! I applied a gold sparkle pigment to the aluminum panel and transferred this photograph onto it. The effect is subtle but mesmerizing because the honey appears to glow and sparkle in the light.”
This one of a kind mixed media artwork on aluminum panel combines hand-applied gold pigment with photographic transfer. The aluminum surface is coated with archival UV protective varnish to preserve the sparkling gold and glowing honey imagery for generations. Only this single artwork exists, making it an exclusive opportunity to own a piece that honors both personal history and ecological importance. The sparkle pigment creates shifting visual experiences as light changes throughout the day, making the honey appear to glow from within. The watermark visible online does not appear on the actual artwork. If you need help envisioning how it will look, a complimentary digital mockup is available so you can see exactly how it will appear in your space before adding it to your collection. Contact Ivana for this service.
The artwork has a subtlegolden sparkle and the aluminum reflects the light with a shimmering soft texture. This is a one of a kind handmade 16" x 20" (plus frame) artwork on an aluminum panel with mixed media and digital image transfer using archival pigment inks.Artwork is finished with a UV light protective coating so that they can be displayed without glass, and it is signed in verso. It comes with the frame shown.
