HAROLD P. CURTIS HONEY CO.
Labelle, FL
The Mural That Launched The Good of the Hive
A desire to be of service and to raise awareness about the importance of pollinators connected me with this 5th generation beekeeping and honey company. It was simply meant to be a one-off. I had no intention of painting bees around the world at this point.
The Process
This mural was painted over the course of ten weeks (often in sweltering heat). The entrance to the shop’s observation hive is in the middle of the wall being painted, so I was working for hours with busy honey bees flying all around me. Not only did I not get stung once—I came to enjoy their company! By the time the mural was complete the idea of The Good of the Hive was born, but maybe more importantly, I met a lot of living thriving bees.
The Community
This mural, as well as every other pollinator I have painted, is not just about bees. When I approached this family about the project, murals were illegal in the town, so the people of the town came together to change the law. This mural is about bees, but it is also about what can happen when people connect for a common purpose. It is about the people of LaBelle coming together to breathe new life into their town. It is about taking a leap toward something in service and finding a sense of purpose when I got there. It is about a family that has been in the business of caring for honey bees for over 60 years. In the end, this mural that started as a painting about honey bees ended up being more than that. It became a story about the beauty of the human spirit.
