bumblegirl As Downey residents continue to marvel at the mysterious stencil paintings popping up around town, the guerilla street artist himself, surprised at the sudden notoriety, has come forward, grateful that his artwork is starting to make an impact in the community where he was born and raised.

Bumblebee, who uses an alias for anonymity, started secretly painting poignant yet playful portraits of children and bees on abandoned buildings and structures more than five years ago, but his audience has grown as pictures of his work have traveled across cyberspace.

Bumblebee still lives in Downey, and says his creativity emerged when he noticed a shortage of artwork around town.

“Creativity is everywhere, but it seems to bee [sic] lacking in Downey and its surrounding cities,” he said in an e-mail response. “That really got me thinking about how I could change that, and making my art public was the answer. I’ve done most of my street art in Downey and am really surprised that there are many still around the city for people to see and hopefully appreciate.”

Bumblebee did acknowledge that several of his Downey pieces have been taken down through the years, but he ensures that there are still more paintings around town that have yet to be published by anyone.

“I think I’ll leave those locations a secret between me and the people who have seen them,” he said. “These paintings are all up for interpretation, but I can say that these haunting images of children playing around bees reflect my message of innocence and coming of age. To me, bees are a sign of vulnerability. I do beelive [sic] that children best represent this quality also.

“The paintings/installations in the street are all on unloved and forgotten parts of the city. I feel that these places are just as vulnerable as the children that I paint.”

CONTINUE READING CHRISTIAN BROWN’S STORY IN THE DOWNEY PATRIOT