Creating a buzz in the art world

But the artist is not too bothered about what the critics think, she has a far more important audience to impress.

To her the perfect approval of her sculptures would be if a swarm of bees decided to live in them.

Caitlin, 37, of Exeter Street, Brighton, said: "I am interested in the structure of a hive and how bees live.

"Hopefully my outdoor sculptures will attract bees and a swarm might colonise them."

As artist-in-residence at an apiary in Stanmer Park, in Brighton, Caitlin has spent the past few months working with beekeepers to study the insects' behaviour.

She plans to use her knowledge to create three sculptures to hang in Woods Mill Nature Reserve in Henfield, which could eventually turn into new homes for wild bees.

Mother-of-one Caitlin said: "There are all sorts of stories across time involving bees and they tend to have a place in people's imagination.

"I've been fascinated with bees since I was a child."

Caitlin had never been stung by a bee before starting her project which is part of the Government-backed Year Of The Artist scheme.

But she soon felt the sting in their tails on her first day of studying the insects with beekeeper Dr Gerald Legg.

She said: "I went down there wearing dark trousers instead of light ones normally worn when dealing with them.

"It was like an initiation sting. In a way I was glad it happened because I was a little worried I might be starting a big project but was allergic to bee stings."

Caitlin, co-director of the Brighton-based Red Earth Arts Company, plans to make her sculptures out of natural materials and hive products like honey and bees wax to make them more attractive to bees.

She said: "Most people tend to know the fat and furry bumble bee but there are lots of different species.

"I'm concentrating on the honey bee, solitary bee and bumble bee which all like living in different environments."

When the sculptures are finished, beekeepers at Woods Mill will look for a swarm of bees, formed when the insects are searching for a new home, to collect and introduce to the sculptures.

Caitlin, who created the huge wave-shaped Outcrop sculptures on the South Downs earlier this year, hopes her Hive project will provide non-scientific information about the nature of bees.