15×20 Watercolor Painting featuring a rusty patched bumble bee pollinating a black raspberry plant.

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This painting evokes memories of picking black raspberries with my sisters, mom, and grandma as a child. As we combed through the brambles surrounding the open fields, I remember the feel of the sunshine hot on our backs, the bright open skies, and the taste of the juicy fruits that I popped in my mouth (just as many as I plopped into my gallon bucket, no doubt). The buzzing of bees around us reminds me that we are all interconnected in this moment of bliss.

Due largely in part to the pesticides, Rusty-patched bumblebees are an endangered species of bee and are rarely seen in my home state of Ohio. The name “The Raspberry Roundup” is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the plight of these creatures.