thunderpeep: Fun Friday: Loving the Bees!

I'm super excited to have my friend Christine Pensa from Art That Moves visiting the blog today. Well, she's not actually sitting inside my blog, but if anyone can make that happen - yes please. That would be so rad! But what I really mean, is that Christine has created some special artwork as downloads for this instalment of Fun Friday. And it all revolves around a pretty great cause, one she's very passionate about.

Bees. I'm totally afraid of them. Yeah, I can handle a giant moose, but some fuzzy buzzing insect will have me running for the hills (no kidding I will actually run away if there's something buzzing in my ear.) To be fair it's more likely those horrible wasps and hornets I'm actually afraid of, not having been stung creates this larger than life horror around them {one day I'm going to have to tell you about my wasps invasion - when I think you can handle it}

So anyways, I've known Christine for a couple of years now, I can't actually remember where and when we first met, she's just one of those people that I instantly connected with and she just kind of fit into my world that it feels like I've known her my whole life. It could be because her favourite place to visit in Newfoundland and I LOVE that province too. She has this great presence, one of great creativity and peacefulness but also knows how to laugh and joke around (and makes some wicked cocktails - most likely a skill she learned from her earlier days working in politics!) She creates artworks by combining inspiring words with her magical illustrations, and pieces vary from original art, to prints and stationery to her sweet line Om for your Home - a selection of silkscreen pieces for your home including tea towels, bread bags and pillow cases (all available in her Etsy shop). If you follow me on Instagram you may also remember our trip to the AGO to see the Emily Carr exhibit, where Christines' paper Emily doll tagged along.

inspiring Hafiz quote print available here and Ladies of Art paper dolls available here

Christine recently put together a show here in Toronto, to raise awareness and funds for the bees at the Graven Feather Gallery on Queen West here's what she had to say about the show and her reasons behind it:

I have been passionate about bees (and other pollinators) and the threats they are facing to their very survival for some time. Over the last year and a half I have donated 10% of proceeds from my bee themed art products in my Etsy shop, at the One of a Kind Show and in other retail venues.

This spring I wanted to do more.

I contacted Graven Feather Gallery in Toronto’s west end and asked if they wanted to host a show in support of the alchemist insect – the bee.
Once we put out a call for artists our Bee themed art show came together rather quickly. I thought we might start our first year with 25 artists, but after the overwhelming response we received we opened the show up to include 48 artists participating!
The response is so gratifying and the opportunity for spreading the word about the plight of pollinators has grown exponentially.

People DO want to make a difference and that makes my heart happy!

Each of the artists in the show has agreed to donate 10% of their sales to the David Suzuki Foundation‘s work to help the bees.

The show runs until June 27th, so if you're in the Toronto area I highly recommend you go and check it out. Some of my other friends are also in the show - Ele of Minouette and Michelle of Kempton Jones both have pieces in the show.

Want to know more about what you can do to help the bees and other pollinators at risk? here are a couple of useful links: David Suzuki Foundation, the Sierra Club, and of coarse don't be like me and run away from bees. They really are our friends.

Christine has created some gorgeous screen savers for your phones and desktops, to bring a bit of bee love into your daily life. So download and enjoy. Just click on any of the images below and it will pop up in a new window. Right click the image and download it onto your computer, then select it as your new wallpaper and BAM! you now have a super Fun image on your screen - or use the same process to upload to your phone as a screen saver. (please note that these images are for personal use only they are not for resale but feel free to share this post with your friends!)