Colophon: Bee Possibly 1962

This is Charles Arthur Wells Jr.’s Colophon: Bee, an etching printed from plates. Look at the bee, how softly rendered, even though etched. The artist is making small marks that aggregate and congeal, creating this buzzing furry being. The body is created by a slow, thoughtful accumulation. I imagine Wells bent over his plate, lovingly creating this tiny being, burnishing it, and sending it out into the world as a gentle thing. The bee’s fuzzy body emerges out of this inky mist. It seems so quiet, and still, yet ready to burst into life. I wonder what Wells was thinking about when he made this piece. Was he thinking about the interconnectedness of life, or the beauty of the small, overlooked things in the world? That he printed these himself, from his own plates, makes it even more intimate. It reminds me that all artists are always in conversation with one another.