A book I recently read and loved is called “Piranesi” by Susanna Clarke. It’s a mystery with a magical setting — a labyrinth of halls with thousands of statues. I originally wanted to paint one of the statues (if you read the book you can guess which one) but it evolved a little differently.

I didn’t have an end result in mind when I created this painting. It’s a little mysterious and I liked that the painting had a sense of flow and the statue became human. I used gold paint to symbolize the value of honey bees to our environment.

“Keeper of the Honey” 16” x 20” acrylic, gouache and charcoal on paper. The muted palette of blues, greys and gold gives a sense of mystery.

If you like mystery and magical realism, read this book!