We were days away from closing on our old house when we found out there were unexpected tenants moving in.

Bees had built a home in the space between the balcony floor and the porch ceiling. A colony, fully committed, completely unbothered by our closing date.

We were lucky. Within a few days, a beekeeper was able to remove and relocate the hive safely. The bees found a new home. We closed on schedule.

And they left something behind:

The honeycomb came out intact — fragile and intricate. I held it and immediately knew it belonged in the work.

Honeycomb is sacred geometry in its most literal form. The hexagonal structure bees build without rulers or plans. It is one of nature's most perfect patterns. And here was a piece of it, made inside the walls of a house that we lived in for the last 10 years.

I've been making impressions of it into encaustic panels.

The process is delicate. Encaustic wax has to be hot enough to accept an impression but not so hot that it melts the comb before the mark is made. Too much heat and the comb disappears into the wax, taking its pattern with it. The window is narrow. Some attempts don't work.

These panels are part of Weave of Life now. Reclaimed in the most unexpected way — not from Zero Landfill Day or a fabric sample pile, but from a colony of bees that moved into our house the week we were trying to move in ourselves.

I've been calling them A Gift From Our Last House Guests.

Weave of Life is a large-scale modular installation growing panel by panel, story by story. To follow the project, subscribe below. To inquire about the work, reach out at nancy@nancyfritzart.com​