Handmade and human

Last night's documentary Bumblebeelovesyou, about street artist Bumblebee, was the work of videographer Julian Park. He and his friends, through their company, Handimade.org, believe that everyone has a story to tell and that sharing those stories brings us closer and tears down the walls we sometimes build. "Handmade, human stories."

Some stories start back when you least expect them. I first met Julian over a year ago, when I was taking pictures for another Downey Daily post. I was poking around the church I used to attend as a child when he saw me with my camera and struck up a conversation. He was such a friendly guy that I ended up enjoying a lunch with him and his friends.

Downey Daily wasn't particularly well-known back then, but he was already a regular follower. In fact, he told us last night that it was our posts about Bumblebee's work around town that started his interest in Bumblebee and eventually led to last night's documentary.

And so we come full circle. Last night was exciting, in many ways. A packed house was there for this screening, which was a great encouragement to Julian and his crew. The audience spanned all generations. Interest in the arts continues to grow in Downey. And Downey Daily played a small part.

Kids and bees and yellow and black stripes

Tonight was the screening of the Bumblebeelovesyou film documentary at the Epic Lounge in downtown Downey. (More on filmmaker Julian Park tomorrow.) Bumblebee is a street artist from Downey, whose work we have posted about several times over the last year.

In addition to the screening, Bumblebee had numerous small works on display and for sale. (His street art is not small—his latest is 18 feet tall!) The works were done on a variety of surfaces, and they were all intriguing, as you can see by the close attention paid by the man above.

Bumblebee's work usually portrays children and nearly always includes his signature stripes of yellow and black—and of course some bees. The young girl at left certainly came dressed for the occasion!

Bumblebee says that he overcame his family's initial skepticism to become successful as an artist. He views his street art as a gift to the community, and his art sales help finance this gift, according to this article in the Downey Patriot.

I'm glad to be one of the lucky recipients of that gift.

We love Bumblebee!

This is the biggest image I've seen so far from the street artist, Bumblebee. This little girl is painted on the side of a building on 2nd Street just past LA Buns and the Epic Lounge.  Usually there are bees incorporated in the image, so I'm not sure of the message here. Maybe we'll find out at the film event scheduled to take place here in August.

The Downey Arts Coalition along with Epic Lounge is hosting a short film event called BUMBLEBEE LOVES YOU, featuring the images of Bumblebee. Click here for the info link. I believe the event is free, so bring a friend and stop by to check out a little local art vibe.

If you are interested, I recently posted another Bumblebee image on Firestone.