My name is Liana Toy. I am most definitely a plant person. I practice western herbalism and I was lucky enough to apprentice with Jackie Rushton. She not only taught me a lot about plants and medicine making, but she also brought me into the world of bees and beekeeping.

I am a beginner beekeeper, this is my second year keeping bees and I am constantly in awe of them.

Every one of the pieces that I made for this project, I did with my youngest son Jasper on my back in a baby carrier. I would often get started and in a flow with one of the pieces, and at some point he would need my attention. I would scoop him up and put him on my back and keep working on the pieces. It was his place of comfort.

I really allowed my connection to bees and plants be the inspiration behind the art for this project. The first piece that came to me was wax/comb. I am often visited in my dreams by the bees and the comb is first thing I see in those dreams. Fresh comb is gorgeous and white. That particular piece I didn’t need to plan or think about at all, it just flowed immediately.

The next one to come to me was bear. I used a new medium for that painting. Watercolor has always intimidated me, so I thought it would be fun to challenge myself a bit. In that piece, I really was hoping to connect to the intensity and power of the bear. As a bee, or a bee keeper for that matter, a bear can destroy your hives in an instant. All of that hard work and dedication gone in no time at all. Sometimes in life that same intense force can come in and bring chaos and destruction. It is in those moments that big shifts happen and sometimes the universe has to speak very loudly to get us to listen. The bear is a reminder that sometimes things need to be torn down to make space for something more aligned with your purpose.

The last piece I did was mead. I started with just sketching a chalice. Then I allowed all of the plants to slowly make their way into the piece. Mead is such a lovely drink to connect us to the bees and the plants. The energy from all of the flowers that the worker bees visit makes its way into that mead. Mead is a libation that can help us connect to the energy of abundance. It is a special gift from the bees and it fills me with gratitude every time I drink it.

I was so happy to be included in this project. I have always loved art! I remember that my dad used to keep every piece of art I would make in school. He was always so impressed with my mediocre work. There was one piece I did when I was little that he would just brag and brag about. It was a desert scene with a cactus, a coyote, a snake, etc. Nothing was the right size but he thought it was just so good. He always was so encouraging, and I’ll never forget how his face would light up every time I handed him a piece of art that I made.

The bee oracle project helped me connect even deeper to the bees and the plants. It also inspired me to start using watercolors. It is now one of my favorite mediums. It felt so good to be a part of this collective work and I will forever be grateful.

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Meet Liana Toy

Meet Heather LaBrecque

Meet Jen Ede