The Story Behind My Bee in the City Design 🐝
How a giant bee became one of my biggest (and most unexpected) art projects yet.
There are some art projects that arrive in your inbox and immediately make you think, oh, I REALLY want to do that.
Bee in the City was definitely one of them.
When I found out that Wellington was going to be covered in giant bee sculptures as part of a fundraising trail for Life Flight, I knew I wanted to be involved. But designing a bee was a little outside my usual brief.
I'm best known for my architectural ink and watercolour artwork — drawing the buildings and places around Aotearoa that people know and love.
So how do you take that style and turn it into a giant bee?
From buildings to bees
My first thought was actually to completely cover the bee in a series of small buildings similar to my signature cluster drawings. Rather than simply decorating a sculpture with a pretty pattern, I wanted the design to feel unmistakably me — detailed, architectural, colourful and full of little things to discover.
My work has always been about celebrating the places around us and the stories attached to them, so I started thinking about how I could bring some of Wellington's character into the design.
It became apparent early on that these early designs were going to be way too ambitious for such an odd-shaped sculpture. I ended up taking a long time to consider the shape and go right back to basics.
Designing something at a VERY different scale
One of the strangest parts of this project was getting my head around the scale.
I'm used to working on paper, carefully building up an illustration with tiny details and layers of watercolour.
Suddenly, I was designing something that was going to become a 3D giant sculpture sitting out in Wellington for thousands of people to see.
Every little detail had to be considered differently.
Would the lines still work when they were enlarged? Would it wrap around the shape correctly?
Would the colours have enough impact from a distance?
Would people notice the tiny details when they walked past and then discover even more when they stopped to look?
Those questions became a huge part of the design process.
A little bit of Wellington
Once I decided to scale everything back to basics, I realised this could actually become a whimsical design if I focused on the bee itself being just ONE house.
I still wanted the design to be packed with references and details inspired by Wellington, so I decided to keep the original idea for the orb it sits on and take on the challenge of wrapping the building around a smaller more managed space.
Thus, 1B Buzznee Street was born!
From drawing to giant sculpture
Painting the sculpture presented many challenges for me. Getting to the nooks and crannies underneath the bee literally meant I was straddling the sculpture alot when painting! Making sure the building wrapped around the orb in a way that made sense was a huge challenge, but it all paid off in the end.
Seeing the design move from a drawing on my desk to a three-dimensional sculpture was pretty surreal. There is something very satisfying about watching a piece of artwork leave the page and become a physical object that people can walk around, photograph and experience in the real world. I’m pretty happy with the result!
So… where can you find my bee?
Bee in the City officially launched on 14 September 2026 and runs until 8 November.
There are more than 30 giant bee sculptures around Wellington, created by artists from across New Zealand, alongside a collection of community bees.
The trail is free to explore, and there's even a Bee in the City app where you can find the locations of the sculptures, collect the bees as you discover them and learn more about the artworks.
And the best part?
This isn't just about getting people outside exploring Wellington. The trail is raising funds for Life Flight, helping support the lifesaving work of the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and Air Ambulance services.
So if you're in Wellington over the next few weeks, grab the app, get your walking shoes on and start hunting.
And when you find my bee, make sure you stop for a proper look.
There might be a few details hiding in there that you don't spot at first glance. 🐝
Happy bee hunting!
