Have you seen the ‘Bee’? Welcome Albany Creek Village’s newest artwork namely, ‘Bee’ curated by Artist Elliot Crombie. We are excited to see the finished artwork, after Elliot won the Mural Project competition at Albany Creek Village. We sat down with Elliot to find out more about his connection to Albany Creek and his impact of the ‘Bee’ on the community.

What is your background as an artist?

I have been painting with acrylic paint the last 9 years but work in several different artistic mediums. I have a degree and a diploma in visual communcation from Griffith university and Southbank Tafe.  

What is your relationship to Albany Creek?

My only remaining grandparent Dorothy Crombie lives in Albany creek. I used to live with her every second weekend as a child, she and her husband (my grandad who past away around 6 years ago) used to enter the local flower garden competitions. I can’t remember if they were ever winners or not but I do remember as a child they spent a majority of their free time looking after their front display garden.

Can you tell us more about the meaning behind  ‘Bee’?

The idea I came up with was to make an artwork that draws a connection between the shopping centre being the community hub of Albany Creek with a fun reference to local floral and fauna. The concept is of a large flower, surrounded with bees collecting nectar from the yellow centre of the flower. One of the bees is carrying an organic (non-plastic) bag that would be overflowing with nectar or even honey. The local bees are shopping at the flower like local people are going to be shopping at the new village. The bee holding an organic woven bag is a little subtle head nod to recent initiatives to reduce waste and get the community to be more conscious of their own impact on the environment.

How long did the project take from conception to completion?

The physical painting of the wall took around 20-25 hours over three days, the original design concept submitted was about 2-3 hours of brainstorming and 2-4 hours of drawing and redesigning until I was happy with the idea.

What was the feeling like of the local community getting involved while you were painting?

It was really cool to have some of the kids and their parents painting together on the wall. I thought it would be a nice way of involving the locals and letting them get involved was something positive. Furthermore, that it was for them and a real artwork designed specifically for Albany Creek, not just wall paper that doesn’t connect to the space. It was a really good feeling to have so many people participate and it meant I got to chat about the concept and explain the story behind the artwork. I think this helped to build a connection between the local communities story, the precinct and its new refurb. The general feedback was that it was a beautiful and organic contribution to the modern industrial vibe recently created within the complex. I think the contrast of the new modern refurb and the colourful mural have complimented each other really well.

What do you think the mural will bring to the precinct?