The Flight of the Bumblebee series is about spring, new growth and hope. Emerging from the winter after a long year of a worldwide pandemic and quarantine was made easier by spending a lot of time outdoors. Long walks and hikes helped to maintain a healthy mind and body, but it also served as inspiration for this series. I photographed spring flowers, sketched on clay, outlined and painted each one of the porcelain tiles with glaze. The Encaustic panels are built with multiple layers of Encaustic Medium; bees wax, dammar resin and pigment. Surface textures are made with carving tools and highlighted with pan pastels or oil paint. Three hand-drawn, graphite transfers of bees are embedded in the piece titled Triple Bee.