In the early 1800s the phrase “The Bee’s Knees” meant small and insignificant. In the 1920s the meaning changed and became the phrase for “an outstandingly good person or thing.” My husband has a love for the outdoors and enjoys being in the garden. He thought it would be intriguing for me to paint a giant bee for one of my Spring paintings. He was fascinated with how hard they work at a relentless pace. I often tell him “You are the bee’s knees.” Deciding to research the meaning of the phrase enticed me to paint this subject even more and the title began to evolve. Chris thought it would be very interesting to see the intricate style of my tree paintings used to paint a large insect.
The title developed from the fact that my husband is an extremely good person who leaves everyone with a smile on their face whenever they speak to him. I then needed to add the element of the bee into the title. The legs of the bee are where they collect pollen, which is said to be the sweetest part of the insect. Chris shows his kindness in every way and is also very sweet so it was easy to intertwine these two ideas into one. “The Bee’s Knees” was finished in March of 2022 just in time for Sprint. I decided to give the painting to my husband and he wanted me to make prints of it so the painting could be shared with the world. The original photograph I took is of the bee landing on the sunflower in a vertical position. This painting can be viewed either vertical or horizontal. It hangs vertical in our private collection. We hope you enjoy this new painting!
There are also Greeting Cards and Stickers of this painting available. Contact me with any questions you may have via my contact page on the website! Thank you for reading and have a great week!
-Karen Hilliard