Personal Honey Bee

The honey bee is set to the dandelion and as many surrounding flowers and trees as will be flowing with nectar. She is working so hard for the good of the colony, she will fly around 500 miles in her lifetime she will produce less than half a teaspoon of honey. As the mosaic progresses her flight and destination will be able to be followed, her determination and commitment relatively unrecognised.

Week 3: 'Energy never disappears it only ever changes form'

The above title was the most exciting thing any physics teacher ever told me; once heard this has resounded in my life, every so often resurging - as energy itself. The breeze, swirling gently around the Dandelion clocks, not only gathers up and sweeps the seed away to it's new destination but brings fresh air - a wind of change, of the 'next season', the future on it's way.
This blog is a journey on the theme of Journeys. Each step of the way, each cutting and placing of a row of tiny tiles constitutes for me, stepping stones of personal journeys; not only to the completion of each large panel but symbolically in the 125 years of the Gladstone Rd infants, their school and personal development, which includes my own.

Dandelion and Bee progress: The worker honey bee with her (bee line) flight trail behind her and her head stuck firmly into the pollen of the Dandelion has (partly because I am a bee keeper) taken on a more personal significance.

5 celebratory Mosaics on the theme of 'Journeys' - Number 1 'A Dandelion Releases it's Seed on the Wind'

‘I aim to evoke our experience of boundaries, borders, intersections and connection points, where times change and sections separate. These are vital in order to evaluate beginnings and endings, the microcosm and macrocosm of nature and experience.

The natural environment is my strongest influence with evidence of past human habitation and personal development. In a harmonious celebration, my work brings the past and present together with unique results.’

gabriellenaptali.com

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I was really interested in the project firstly because of the positivity of the school reaching the grand age of 125 years and still continually evolving and rolling with the times;  teaching, encouraging and supporting so many children with such creative and inspiring teachers and staff and secondly but because I went to Gladstone Rd Primary School and my younger sister Clare went to the Infant School way back in 1972 when we first arrived in Scarborough. The school has changed so much in those years (we had outside toilets!). I remember my first artistic display on the corridor wall being such an honour. So here I am again, 30 odd years later, able to contribute something special and bring my own creative improvements, adding another dimension to the childrens' school life, that I hope will continue to inspire the children and other viewers for many years to come. 


Gabrielle Naptali