Posts Tagged: Jeffrey Granett

These Bees Are Carpenters

These bees are carpenters.

These bees are art.

Professor Jeffrey Granett, who retired from the UC Davis Department of Entomology in January 2007, now spends must of his time working on his art.  

He created a hanging piece for "The Bees at The Bee" art show, to be held from 3 to 8 p.m., Saturday, May 8 at the Sacramento Bee's open courtyard, 2100 Q St. The art show, organized by Sacramento artist Laurelin Gilmore, is a benefit for the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis.

It's open to the public, it's free, and it's the place to "bee" on May 8.

Artists, invited from a 12-county area to participate in the show, will donate a portion of their sales to the Laidlaw facility for honey bee research.

And what did our retired entomologist submit for the show? Think carpenter bee. Think "tattooed" carpenter bee. His work is titled "Carpenter Bee With Tattoo."

Granett, who taught arthropod pest management at UC Davis and researched agricultural entomology, says he has no professional experiences with carpenter bees “but I enjoyed seeing them turning my backyard fence to sawdust.”

“The insect-art is a carpenter bee, probably male but I'm not sure,” Granett said. “It has tattoos on its femurs and tibias and should be hung as if it were hovering over a flower.  It is cut from a linocut printed on Somerset paper with ink washes for the coloring.  Although I tried to make the insect somewhat realistic morphologically, it clearly has some anthropomorphic characteristics for the viewer to figure out.”

Granett, who received his bachelor of science degree in agricultural research from Rutgers University and his master’s degree and doctorate in entomology from Michigan State University, remains an entomologist at heart, but his interests now include docenting at the Crocker Art Museum and "learning from my grandson."

And creating multi-media art, "Carpenter Bee with a Tattoo."

Jeffrey Granett

RETIRED ENTOMOLOGIST Jeffrey Granett (shown in front of Briggs Hall at UC Davis) now spends much of his time creating art. This is part of his hanging art, "Carpenter Bee with Tattoo," that will be shown at "The Bees at The Bee" art show on Saturday, May 8 from 3 to 8 p.m. in the Sacramento Bee's open courtyard at 2100 Q St. Open to the public at no charge, it's a benefit for honey bee research at UC Davis. The professor retired from UC Davis in 2007 and worked at Briggs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Tattoos

INTRICATE WORK on the wings of a carpenter bee gives it the title "Carpenter Bee with a Tattoo." Retired entomologist Jeffrey Granett will show this work at "The Bees at The Bee" art show May 8 in the Sacramento Bee's open courtyard. Art sales will benefit UC Davis honey bee research. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Carpenter Bee

CARPENTER BEE, the subject of retired entomologist Jeffrey Granett's art work, robs nectar from mint in a UC Davis wildflower bed. This carpenter bee is a male Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)