Light Painting a 2014 Stingray Convertible Nicknamed “Bumble Bee”
Here’s what “Bumble Bee” looks like under the hood. Pretty cool!
Joannie and I have recently returned from a great light painting trip to Missouri and Arkansas. We made the trip there for the 2026 “Corvettes in Paradise” Show, which is held annually at Margaritaville Lake Resort in Osage Beach, Missouri. This fantastic show is put together by the Lake of the Ozarks Corvette Club (LOCC).
This was our 4th year as an exhibitor at the show, and it was Joannie’s first time attending the show. I was happy that she was able to make the trip this year. I’ve always really enjoyed my visits there. I knew she would love the show, as well as all of the natural beauty the area has to offer.
We were on the road for a total of 11 days, and put on just over 2150 miles as we traveled through 5 different states! We even hit Route 66 for its 100th Birthday in both Springfield, Missouri, and once again in Galena, Kansas, on our way back home!
Here we are at the “Birthplace of Route 66” sign in Springfield, Missouri. We took this photo on the day before the 100-year celebration.
“Corvettes in Paradise” 2026
As mentioned, the Lake of the Ozarks Corvette Club runs a fantastic show each year. Well over 100 Corvettes were on display, covering all vintages, from C1’s to C8’s. Not only is the show run extremely well by a wonderful group of club members, but the other vendors and all of the car owners are also great!
Each year, we donate a $2000 Light Painting Gift Certificate to the “Best of Show” winner. This year’s winner was Teresa with her stunning 1967 C2 Corvette Roadster Convertible L79! We’re not sure when we’ll get her amazing Corvette light painted, but we certainly look forward to it!
Ironically, I have light-painted that car once already, when our good friend Jim owned it! Not only was the ’67 in the light painting, but he also included a stunning 2023 C8 Corvette 70th Anniversary Edition Z51, and 2 racehorses too!
Teresa’s beautiful 67 Corvette Roadster. This car was the 2026 “Best of Show” winner at “Corvettes in Paradise” in Osage Beach, MO.
Please click on this link to check Jim’s cool light painting story out.
“Photographer’s Choice Award”
In addition to the “Best of Show” winner receiving a gift certificate from us, we also give “Photographer’s Choice“ Gift Certificates to a couple of our favorite Corvettes at the show.
Our first selection for this year was Rick and Lois’ 2019 Corvette Grand Sport. We selected their cool Red, White, and Blue Corvette in honor of America’s 250th Birthday this year. It turns out we would light paint it (with another cool Vette) while on this trip! We’ll share that one with you once we’ve got it completed.
We selected Rick & Lois’ 2019 Red, White, and Blue Grand Sport as one of our “Photographer’s Choice” winners in honor of America’s 250th Birthday!
Our second selection was Alex and Debbie’s “Snoopy” 2017 Corvette C7 Grand Sport! Not sure yet as to when or where we will light paint it, but we’re looking forward to it!
The “Snoopy” (with a few Disney touches) was on full display here!
Because there are so many amazing Corvettes at the show, we decided to select a third one! That honor went to Gary & Kerry for their sleek 2017 C7 Corvette Grand Sport! We look forward to creating something pretty awesome for them, too!
Gary & Kerry’s pretty Sterling Blue 2017 Corvette Grand Sport is on display at “Corvettes in Paradise” 2026.
That brings us to what this story is all about.
Last year, we selected a 2014 Stingray Convertible, nicknamed “Bumble Bee”, as one of our “Photographer’s Choice” winners. Craig & Ellen were the lucky recipients of our award. Well, we finally got to light paint it for them this year, right there at the Margaritaville Resort!
This photo of “Bumble Bee” was taken at “Corvettes in Paradise” in 2025.
Craig and Ellen chose to have their light painting created at Margaritaville in honor of their 50th Wedding Anniversary this May 13th! They were in Lake of the Ozarks on their honeymoon 50 years ago! What a wonderful milestone, congratulations!
Light Painting a 2014 Corvette Stingray Convertible
Joannie and I arrived at Margaritaville early Thursday afternoon, April 23rd. Shortly after our arrival, we met up with Craig and Ellen to check out the location that they had selected for the project – a pretty spot right at the resort with the Lake of the Ozarks as the backdrop!
This was the setup image for the Stingray’s light painting. As you can see, the sky was getting kind of ominous, but thankfully, we finished up before the thunderstorms came rolling in.
The location was perfect! No street lights, a quiet spot, traffic-wise, and very scenic too! Mother Nature was also cooperating; it was very windy, but there was no rain in sight until after midnight (strong thunderstorms did indeed arrive after midnight). We would meet back there at 6:30 to set everything up.
That evening, while we were setting everything up, we asked Craig and Ellen how they wanted “Bumble Bee” to be light-painted, with the top up or top down? They preferred top-down. That meant we had one messy obstacle to overcome.
Spring is in the Air (and so is the pollen)!
There’s one thing to note about the Lake of the Ozarks area in late April. It’s very lush and green because everything is in full bloom. However, the pollen is out-of-control! There’s a yellow film on anything that sits outside for just a few minutes.
Craig and Ellen’s Corvette would be getting set up the following morning to be judged in the show on Saturday. So, to help them out, we set the car up with the top up to keep the pollen out of the interior as much as we could. That way, they would hopefully have a lot less work cleaning the interior for the show.
Here’s “Bumble Bee” with the top up!
The plan was to light paint everything as far as we could with the top up. Then Craig would quickly put the top down so that we could light-paint that part of the 2014 Stingray. As soon as we finished that part of the car, we put the top back up to keep the pollen out!
I forgot to ask Craig and Ellen how much pollen they had to clean up in the interior; hopefully, it wasn’t too bad. The added benefit of doing this was that we ended up with two cool light-painted versions of “Bumble Bee”! Sweet!
Here’s the Stingray’s light painting with the top down. We can’t decide which version we like the best?!
What Makes This 2014 Stingray Convertible Unique
Craig and Ellen were kind enough to share some of Bumble Bee’s style and performance features with us:
- Exterior: Velocity Yellow Tint coat
- Interior: Jet Black, Leather Seats
- Engine: LT1 6.2L V8 Di/VVT with Active Fuel Management
- Horsepower: 460 Torque: 465 lb-ft
- Transmission: 6 Speed Paddle Shift Automatic
- 2LT Package with Heads Up Display and Rear View Camera
- After Market Chrome ZO6 Wheels
- Exhaust -Multi-Mode Performance
- Carbon Fiber Interior Package
- Carbon Flash Color Full Length Dual Racing Stipe Package
- Chevrolet Multilink Navigation
- Custom Yellow Caliper Color
- Carbon Flash Z51 Style Spoiler
- Convertible Top Black – Full Power Top with Remote Control
- Driver Mode Selector – 5 Modes Available
- LED Lights with Variable Speed and Light Controller Installed on Grill and In Engine Compartment
- Bumble Bee Transformer Theme and License Plate (BBL BEE)
- Custom Paint in Engine Bay matching Cars’ Colors
- Custom Embroidery on Truck Lid with Bumble Bee Transformer Theme
- Bumble Bee Transformer Video Depicting Cars’ Transformation to Bumble Bee
The “Bumble Bee” Movie
As always, we’ve got a short “Build Video” on our YouTube channel about Craig and Ellen’s stunning 2014 Corvette Stingray Convertible. It features the images that we used to create both light paintings. It concludes with the actual build of each version, adding one layer at a time, until you see the completed one-of-a-kind artworks.
Joannie and I took a total of 160 images that night, and 44 of those images were used to create both light-painted versions of “Bumble Bee”. The “top-up” version has a total of 86 unique layers, and the “top-down” version has 78. The link to view the video is below.
A huge thank you goes out to Craig and Ellen for the opportunity to create these images for you. Joannie and I loved getting to know you, and offer our sincere congratulations on your 50 years as husband and wife! That’s so cool! – M&J
One More Thing
If you love this 2014 Corvette Stingray light painting project, you’re going to get a kick out of our dedicated Light Painting Website! Please check it out over at MichaelAndersonLightPainting.com