Artist Profile: Danelle Orender

Danelle Orender

Bio:

I was raised by a devoted single mother alongside six sisters. As a child, I was a loner but happy and did not have a care in the world! I was always outside scouting for frogs in muddy creek beds and looking for snakes under rocks. I was obsessed with the beauty of the butterflies that would fly so gracefully and would land on the fallen fruit from the apple trees that were near the little farmhouse I lived in growing up. I also became and enchanted and passionate about bees of all kinds. Not just for their beauty but for their brilliance and hard work. Watching them dance from bloom to bloom sparked a passion for me and grew into a purpose. Whether that be me nurturing all the native flowers in my garden and creating a safe space for them. As well as being an advocate for their survival and their delicate spirit. I am not a professional photographer by any means, but I believe my photographs celebrate the quiet beauty and ecological urgency of native plants, bees and butterflies offering those that view them a chance to reflect and see the beauty in this delicate, little pollinators. When I am not photographing pollinators in my very large, native garden, I am spending time with my eighteen year old daughter who is getting ready to go to Avila College in South Kansas City and I am also a teacher. I teach kindergarten through fifth grade students art in South Kansas City and have been teaching elementary art for twenty-three years now. It does have its challenges and can be stressful at times, but the students I am entrusted to teach need me. They love learning, creating, designing art and very much see it as an outlet to express themselves.