news: my book is for sale on amazon /  by kelly heaton

"Pollination" is the visual and written narrative of artist Kelly Heaton. The book address the topic of pollination as a fertile exchange that is essential to life on earth. Honeybees, beekeeping and pollinator troubles are described throughout, and the reader is encouraged to be a good steward of their environment. The book also looks beyond natural pollination to examine the spread of technology and its fertile effect on the human psyche. Heaton discusses her inspiration and artistic process, revealing a profound communion with nature and the supernatural. Artworks include sculpture, painting, sketches, electronics, photography, and perfume. Full of poetic text and beautiful imagery, Pollination is a stimulating journey into the world of relationships that seed new growth.

http://amzn.com/0692497439

ERRATUM

Pages 30-31 and 34-37: Corrected clues for the crossword puzzle, "This is the Problem, Not the Solution" may be downloaded here

Page 46:  My description of honeybee swarming is inaccurate.  Swarm bees leave a hive with their *old* queen, leaving a virgin queen behind to rebuild the hive.

news: solo show announcement /  by kelly heaton

Detail of "The Beekeeper," 2015. Kinetic sculpture made with steel, cast resin, brass, electronics, wood and paint. Approximate dimensions are 60"(W) x 132" (H). Kelly Heaton

Detail of "The Beekeeper," 2015. Kinetic sculpture made with steel, cast resin, brass, electronics, wood and paint. Approximate dimensions are 60"(W) x 132" (H). Kelly Heaton

I am pleased to announce that my latest body of work, "Pollination," will open on September 12 at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, 31 Mercer Street, NYC.  The show addresses many facets of pollination as a fertile exchange, including bees, commerce, human relationships, spirituality and technology.  Works include large-scale sculpture, kinetic sculpture, works on paper and perfume.  A public reception will be hosted at the gallery on September 12 from 6 - 8pm.  The show runs through October 24.

For more information, please sign up for my mailing list or contact Ronald Feldman Fine Arts: (212) 226-3232.

pollination: geography bee /  by kelly heaton

I've recently started an experiment with my bees that involves a wood frame and wax foundation in the shape of the United States (lower 48).  In two weeks, they've made a lot of progress and show a knack for US geography without any prompting on my part.  California and the Pacific NW are extremely popular and apparently too small, as the bees have built burr comb to make the west coast bigger.  They have built-up the Rocky Mountains as the high point of their map; and constructed a very large island off the coast of the Northeast.  Perhaps an enlargement of overcrowded Manhattan?  Otherwise, there's not much happening on the East coast.  They've made some progress on the northern section of the Appalachian mountains, maybe a Catskills retreat for Manhattan bees to get away.  Florida gets zero attention because the peninsula is too small for bees to make it worth their effort.  The Southeast, Midwest and Texas are basically flat but above sea level (if you imagine the wood frame to be their ocean).  Nearly all of the nectar and pollen are stored in the bread basket of our nation.  Good job little geography bees!

open studio: pollination USA /  by kelly heaton

Pollination (USA), 2015. 1st in a series by artist and beekeeper Kelly Heaton. April 20, 2015
This video documents a wax-coated frame in the shape of a US map (lower 48) as it evolves within a beehive. I shake the frame to disturb the bees and observe how they move in response. No bees were harmed in the making of this video. To the contrary, I do everything I can to keep my bees alive and healthy.  My package bees were installed a week ago and have since drawn some comb on the frame which is filled with nectar.  These areas are darker in color and the nectar is reflecting the sunlight.

pollination: meet the new queen /  by kelly heaton

See into a young beehive. This video was shot with an inspector's videoscope, so the frame rate is low and makes it look choppy. Nonetheless, the videoscope allowed me to record activity inside of one of my new hives - and by chance, I caught footage of their new queen only two days after installation from a package that shipped in from Georgia. You can recognize her because her abdomen is larger, more of a pale yellow and her wings are set out to the side instead of folded onto her back. My apologies that she is not marked, this would make it much easier to recognize her ... and I need to take care of this before the hive population increases. Notice areas in which the honeycomb is shallow and others where it is fully formed. This is because I gave the bees some frames with new foundation mixed with frames that already had drawn comb with honey. If possible, I try to feed my bees with honey instead of sugar water because it's better for them; and I have many frames with honey from my hives that sadly died in late winter of this year.

Below are images from the package installation, two days before this video was taken.  
Photos by Sarah Loy, 2015.

pollinators: bees licking honey /  by kelly heaton

Happy day! My bees arrived after their long road trip from Georgia to Virginia. Because it's raining and bees dislike dampness, I will install them tomorrow when the weather is dry. Plus it's fun to keep them overnight in my studio and get to know them. This video shows them lick honey that I smeared onto the outside of the packages. Packaged bees are shipped with sugar water to feed them in transit, but they much prefer honey -- as this video shows.

open studio: building the throat chakra /  by kelly heaton

The Beekeeper is a large sculptural work-in-progress, to be exhibited as part of Pollination in September 2015.  It is comprised of seven or eight chakras.  Here, I am building the throat chakra out of brass.  In the center (4th image) is a low RPM / high-torque motor that turns the throat, pineal and heart chakras.  The pineal and heart chakras are not shown in these images, but will be featured in later posts.