There is nothing more rewarding for an artist than positively touching people’s lives with your artwork, and making a difference in this world. This is happening for artist Cheryl Dunlap, founder of the original ‘Yoga Bee’ cards and designs.
In the summer of 2010, she was brainstorming ideas for a garden themed art show. Being very environmentally conscious, Cheryl knew about the bees and their current struggle in our world today. Suddenly it seemed that bees were appearing everywhere in her life, landing on her, buzzing by, and even hanging on to her shoelaces while walking one day. It was as if the bees were saying, “Hellooo…what else do we need to do here to get your attention!” Her mother always taught her that there are plenty of ‘signs’ out there to guide you, you just have to be open enough to recognize them. Everything seemed to come full circle for Cheryl at that time. With her passion for art, nature, yoga and environmental awareness, the image of a cute little chubby bee meditating came to her. The ‘Bee In The Moment’ star was born. The ideas and clever wording just continued to flow as her sketchbook quickly filled with endless possibilities.
In October of that year, Cheryl was aligned with the woman’s sporting apparel store, GettiGear, to do the annual ‘Hingham Art Walk’. She and the owner, Laura Fisher, hit it off and Cheryl was hired to work there. Retail and sales were not something that artist, Cheryl Dunlap had predicted for her future, but everything happens for a reason, and what a fit it ended up to ‘bee’. When she ran the idea of starting a line of Yoga Bee greeting cards past her boss, Laura said, “It’s a great idea, do it, and we will sell them here.” With the GettiGear store selling fitness apparel and lots of yoga clothing, fellow yogis fell in love with the ‘Yoga Bee’ cards and what a buzz it created!
Cheryl’s vision was very clear from the beginning. Her cards are eco-friendly, printed on recycled paper, put in a protective sleeve that is biodegradable and compostable. She also created her own ‘Bee Cause’ to support and donate to the ‘Save The Honeybee Foundation’.
Within a little over a year of starting the ‘Yoga Bee’ card business, they are being sold in sporting apparel, health food, floral, and gift shops along with galleries and yoga studios from Florida to Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Cod, the South Shore communities in Massachusetts, to Cambridge/Boston and into New Hampshire.
Cheryl plans to continue to illustrate new card designs and bring other products to her line in the future. She hopes to raise awareness of the environmental stresses that are causing the decline of our bee population. The fewer bees, the less pollination, the more our crops and food supply is threatened. She ‘beelieves’ that we can all do something to make a difference no matter how small. We need to continue to educate ourselves, and our children on environmental issues to help save our one and only, Mother Earth.
If you would like to know more about Cheryl you can go here to Read her Bio.