HUM5595 – Week 1 Creative Practice

We start this new session with the topic of the hospital environment and how it can either help or hinder the process of healing. Florence Nightingale suggested that "the most acute suffering was produced from the patient not being able to see out of a window and the knots in the wood being the only view."

The natural world brings us much joy and brightens our day. It is with this thought in mind that my creative practice for this term will focus on elements found in nature, which are symbolic to healing. All of these can be found in gardens and green spaces that are being incorporated into hospital and other healthcare facilities design. Each week will feature a painting in various mediums of a natural element along with its believed symbolism, culminating into a montage of symbols of life and healing.

I felt it appropriate to begin with the humble Bee. It has been with us for thousands of millennia as evidenced by the discovery of a bee embalmed in resin carbon dated to the Early Cretaceous period (“Bee,” 2015). Without the bee collecting and transferring pollen no plant life would exist.

Bees are communal creatures and are symbols of wholesome child rearing, love within the family, domestic stability, harmony and open communication among family members. When the bee visits us, it's often a message for these family themes...an encouragement to open healthy communications within the family, reevaluate the home, and family. Bees remind us to focus on the nurturing of our family, community and support groups (“Bee (mythology),” 2014). Bees are also connected to honey which has been used for anti-bacterial agents to the embalming of Egyptian mummies. Jars of honey have been found in Egyptian tombs that were still edible today.

I chose the Shamrock plant for my image because it can be viewed as a Scriptural symbol standing for the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost. And it can also be symbolic of the three virtues in First Corinthians 13:13 – Faith, Love & Hope (“Symbolic Shamrock Meaning,” n.d.).

If we think of our hearts as a garden, how are we pollinating it? As the bee flits from flower to flower pollinating them, so should we pollinate our lives. What kinds of beauty can we visit in order to allow growth in our hearts, dreams, minds and emotions? What are we feeding ourselves in order to feed our dreams? How can we help our patients do the same?


Bee. (2015, February 28). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bee&oldid=649263981

Bee (mythology). (2014, December 19). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bee_(mythology)&oldid=638738210

Symbolic Shamrock Meaning. (n.d.). Retrieved March 9, 2015, from http://www.whats-your-sign.com/symbolic-shamrock-meaning.html