Cornucopia: bees, flowers, fruits, and vegetables. The word is a symbol of abundance dating back to at least the 5th century B.C.E. Also called the Horn of Amalthea, named after a goat who raised Zeus on her own milk. One version of the story says that Zeus accidentally broke off one of Amalthea's horns while they were frolicking, and to make amends he returned the horn to her imbued with the power to fulfill wishes.

While living in Boston during the 1970s I took a series of life-drawing classes with David Sipress, the New Yorker cartoonist. David had us drawing fruit for homework. I had no idea that the practice would hold my attention as long as it has. These paintings of fruit, flowers, and bees were all done during the past five years. Some of them have appeared in the Shambhala Sun, and Inquiring Mind magazines. Several of the paintings are done in a diptych, or two-panel format, a formal composition with ancient precedents. Others are in a triptych, three-panel format often used for medieval religious icons.

.

You will also see paintings of honey bees here, a series that started as a class project at Naropa University. There are several offshoots of these, including a series of watercolors called Night Bees. The painting called Night Bee 1 won the CEO Award in last summer's exhibition at the Denver Botanic Gardens called Extinction: Artists Respond. The flower paintings are influenced by the long tradition of botanical paintings; some of my favorites are Giovanna Garzoni, Maria Sibylla Merion, Alexander Marshall, the Clutius botanical illustrations, and many anonymous medieval and Renaissance book illuminators.