Cake Toucan was inspired by the shape of the found scrap wood – an off cut from a kitchen counter. Painted like the layers of a cake with sprinkles and at the bottom a paper casing.

Created for 2022’s Fifty Bees 5 exhibition at ACEArts, Somerton, this piece grew out of research into the broad-banded Nomad Bee.

 

Dandelions are major nectar and pollen sources for this native solitary bee. While we see dandelions as uniformly yellow, bees perceive their centres as vivid red/pink. Where their food reward is concentrated, and there the bee collects pollen to pollinate the next flower visited. Ultraviolet photographs of dandelions inspired this poem stitched in this triptych’s central panel. Side panels depict dandelions as perceived by us, and bees. Entirely handstitched using vintage Sylko cotton thread on French linen tea towels.