"Anyone who thinks they're too small to make a difference has never met the honey bee."
Welcome, to my little garden.
The honey bee, the mason bee, the swallowtail, or the moth may not recognize the impact they have, flying flower to flower, helping the meadows and steppes and your backyard garden to grow, but we do. A bee just does what a bee feels it must, and we all depend on it.
I like to think people are the same way– we all have a gift, a part to play in our ecosystem and communities. By practicing our most natural and passionate selves, we thrive and so does the collective. But our individual creativity is only the half of it, we must also engage and encourage each other to bloom.
I created The Apis as an avenue to do the work that calls to me. This brand is meant to operate as a shared space of my own artistic expression and a rotating exhibition of other creatives. My hope is that this space will not only provide more exposure for the creator, but that it will also provide an introduction and inspirational experience for you, the visitor. In my opinion, there will never be enough access to art, so I want to share as much of it as I can.
The Apis, as it is right now, is small, but it will flourish and evolve, for I am planting seeds and tending to the labor I love. If we think of our communities as a garden, then I want to do my part to help mine to grow, and inspirit you, little bee, to do the same.
I am so glad you are here,
Natalie, a..k..a, the apis
Meet Natalie D. Benson
Natalie is a woman of the west. Her roots are in Utah, but she calls the PNW home. She currently resides in a rural cowboy town with a vibrant, artistic community. She is a fine artist with a Bachelors in creative writing that she is slowly, but surely, alchemizing into multiple self-illustrated novels and more written work. She has a background in marketing and copywriting with several years of freelancing for Washington state publications. She has a specialization in editorial publishing and recently had the privilege of doing side editorial work for a boutique publisher.
Natalie spends her time in café corners and outside as often as she can. Gardening and painting have become something of a lifeline. Admittedly, she is partial to the company of fauna and flora to humans, but she makes exceptions for the real ones.
While she is called to create beautiful things, Natalie's biggest passion is admiring the beauty around her. She embraced the role of the Apis as an excuse to read more, paint more, and meet fellow artists and inspirational individuals. She wants to shine more light on the impact creation makes on the world.
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View Natalie's recent collection: Metamorphosis
Work with Natalie
freelance illustration, writing, and editing
The Origin Story
I first conceptualized The Apis back in 2019. I was a somewhat fresh graduate trying to build a written portfolio. As a devoted admirer of art and an aspiring artist, I immersed myself in different creative communities and discovered an ardency for connecting to and supporting other creatives and their endeavors. This image of myself as a little buzzing bee, collecting tales and experiences like pollen, kept popping into my mind, and the idea to create a blog that featured articles focused solely on artists and their work started to bloom. I soft launched The Apis in 2020, with a hope that in some small way I could shine more light on artist's and help them reach the people that need their work, their stories.
But then-- life. COVID and demanding responsibilities of “the big girl job” forced me to shut the project down.
And now-- life! I believe life gave me time and space to evolve as an individual and come back to this project with a new perspective. The Apis will no longer be a simple "blog" but something more-- more art, more stories, more resources, more curation, more connection.
I can't wait to see what beauty will grow in this space.
I want to dedicate The Apis to my mother and late grandmother. For Mom, who gave me a love for stories, displayed an example of bravery, and showed me magic can always be found in the garden. For Grandma, who taught me the power of faith, resilience, and always called me her honey bee.
