Prairie Rhythms: Predators and Pastoral Stewardship

As I prepare for my upcoming living sculpture titled "Sequel," I had the opportunity to explore the prairie ecosystems at Pierce Ranch. The morning started with collecting prairie seeds, which is a vital step in bringing my sculpture to life. To enhance my understanding of these ecosystems and find the most viable seeds, I reached out to a local prairie conservationist who has been instrumental in restoring numerous prairies, notably preserving the Katy Prairie. Collecting seeds is much like eating crawfish, proven to be a catalyst for engaging and enlightening dialogue.

The insights I gained from this exchange confirmed my concerns regarding land preservation. It might surprise and disturb you to learn that the most vibrant and diverse prairies aren't necessarily those that are protected. Rather, they are the prairies that have embraced a more dynamic relationship with the land through careful ranching practices and thrive with life and diversity.

Historically, the natural balance between predators and prey shaped these ecosystems. Predators once hunted freely, guiding the movements of herbivore herds, naturally managing the consumption of vegetation (energy) and the dispersal of organic matter in the form of dung, returning energy back into the soil. However, human intervention led to the decline of these predators, overgrazing, and the desertification of ranchlands. Modern-day ranchers have learned to adapt by using portable fences to mimic these natural movements. This modern adaptation sustains the prairie as a healthy ecosystem, supporting numerous bird species and wildlife.

Through this blog post, I hope to reach an audience unaware of the critical role of ruminants in preserving and revitalizing prairie ecosystems. It's not merely about protecting a static image of nature but understanding and fostering the dynamic relationships that sustain it. The prairies are a testament to the resilience and complexity of life when allowed to interact naturally, even within the framework of sustainable human practices.

It's exhilarating to see how this knowledge aligns with my artistic vision. The conversations I've had and the observations I've made will undoubtedly enrich the narrative and structure of my living sculpture. The prairie seeds are not just components of my work; they symbolize a deeper understanding of ecological balance and the beauty of a thriving ecosystem. They are a source of energy and knowledge, a way to repay the planet.

As I continue this creative process, conversations with friends and experts will remain the cornerstone of my inspiration. In sharing these insights, I hope to foster a broader appreciation for the nuances of prairie conservation and the subtle yet profound ways we can contribute to preserving our natural world.

I leave you with questions that modern society must consider: How can ruminant populations be managed in the absence of predators? What are the consequences of not culling herds? What does the future cycle of life entail?

Moving Forward

Moving Forward

67” X 15” X 18”

Image by Jake Eshelman

Found object concrete and rebar curbing fragment, rusted steel, bronze, and gold leaf.

Moving Forward consists of two rectangular concrete curb fragments and two cast bronze roots, the latter with gold-leaf patinas. These objects are tethered like irregular beads strung on a wire of rusty rebar falling to the earth.

The fractured concrete and the more extensive root land at the forefront in a forward strutting anthropomorphic structure. Growing behind the long-necked bird-like form, a stem of rebar twice the creature's height reaches for sunlight. The meandering stem is counterbalanced with the smaller root in a lyrical passed sunflower shape.

The weighted composition invites viewers to reimagine the relationship between our engineered landscapes and ecological systems to support wildlife and forge a path toward a regenerative future.

To Leave

The ephemeral beauty of nature lies not just in living organisms but also in their inevitable decay.

This morning, while examining “deeper than that” a private living sculpture art installation featuring indigenous plants, I was struck by the fading loveliness of the Rosinweed leaves as they withered. Contemplating the homophones “leaf”, “leave” and “leaves”, I pondered how societies historically understood the ecological value of allowing foliage to persist even after senescence. Is that why we call these objects a verb?

Leaves that have left a plant continue to nourish the soil and its microbial inhabitants even in death. Their decaying forms hold moisture, shade the living organisms in the ground, and provide nutrients as they return to earth, building a balanced ecology that sustains urban landscapes. They are an important material natures uses in its engineering of the water table.

Though a single leaf may seem a small, ephemeral thing, in aggregate and over time, the leaves left behind establish and uphold the very foundations of life.

Their decay is not an end but rather a beginning - a quiet, essential recycling of energy and matter that allows new growth to emerge.

In both the noun and the verb there are layers of beauty, and layers of ecological purpose, in the leaves left to molder where they fall. An ecosystem thrives on this gift of decay, using the ephemeral to fuel the eternal. Such is the profound, poignant cycle that the installation’s Rosinweed specimens, even as they bend and brown, help perpetuate. Out of seeming loss, abundance; out of death, life.

Leave your leaves and be grateful for their beauty as nouns and as verbs.

The National Wildlife Federation - feature

Partnering with communities, schools, governments, and organizations across the country, the National Wildlife Federation is leading the charge for conservation.

Through their tireless commitment to protecting and restoring habitats, they have managed to breathe new life into endangered species like eagles, deer, elk, bighorn sheep, and whales.

I am deeply proud to have my work featured in the prestigious fall edition of the National Wildlife Federation magazine. It is a true honor to be recognized alongside such incredible conservation efforts.

IU - How do you draw a labyrinth?

During the first week of my residency at IU when I wasn’t exploring the city, University, art, museums, ecology, architecture, and landscapes I was experimenting with labyrinth designs.

Some sketches of three different types of kabyrintgs.

This design starts with a simple cross. I need to keep this simple.

Turning the cross/square labyrinth upside down I decided to attempted a seed labyrinth. I think a design less feminine will be better.

Artist in Residency at Indiana University - Living the Dream Installation — Labyrinth

Living the Dream as an Artist in Residence at Indiana University!

I couldn't believe my luck when I was offered the opportunity to be an artist in residence at Indiana University. Not only would I have access to all the incredible resources and opportunities of a renowned research university, but it could provide the opportunity to fulfill one of my monumental artistic visions.

As part of my two month residency, I'll be giving artist talks, exploring local artist studios, landscapes of southern Indiana, and creating a special piece to be exhibited at the University or in the beautiful town of Bloomington.

During my interview for the residency, I couldn't help but ask about the size of the campus. And just as I suspected, it is massive. I imagined it with expansive fields of turfgrass. I remember feeling my heart swelling with excitement and hope. Could Indiana University be the site for the monumental installation I dream of?

Let me explain - This summer seeing CARBONsink develop within Symbiosis at Lawndale Art Center and watching the community enjoy entering it made me think. I wondered if the CARBONsink relief was a step to create a larger piece using the same process but with a deeper meaning and making a bigger impact. A little bit of research regarding Greek philosophers and labyrinths and these thoughts turned into a dream. I have a vision of completing a living labyrinth.

I began studying the designs, meanings and histories of mazes and labyrinths. I was lured by labyrinths pretty fast. Mazes are puzzles and meant to confuse you. Labyrinths check all ny boxes.

-A labyrinth is a meditation. —

-There is 1 way in and 1 way out. What seems like the end is also the beginning. It is the perfect metaphor for inspiring ecological - societal perspectives.

-As an artist whose work in the simplest form looks at time and movement a labyrinth is a logical and interesting medium.

-A living labyrinth to convert fields of turfgrass into a living sculpture to regenrrate life.

Typically in an artist in residency one would take some time getting to know the University and the City before propsing their work. I could not contain my excitement so asked if the University would be interested in a site specific living labyrinth? It would be a social sculpture in the form of a relief that demonstrates the steps for turning the largest crop in the US - turf grass into the largest CARBON sink in the US. Ed the Associate Vice Provost for Arts and Humanities responded with great enthusiasm in his voice. Every summer the University and the city of Bloomington celebrate the life and writings of Kurt Vonnegut with the Granfalloon Festival. A living labyrinth would be a fitting art installation in conjunction with the festival.

For inspiration on my drive to Bloomington, I listened to Cat’s Cradle and Slaughter House Five.

When plants collaborate-

”Problems cannot be solved with the same mindset that created them” - Albert Einstein

To change my mindset I have to change how I see. For years I have seen through a mechanistic mindset. Observing the growth of Symbiosis these past years has given me a new perspective. When I step back and consider what else might be happening, what can I see if I consider natural systems as opposed to purely industrial systems? A whole new world of thought and possibilities unfolds.

I see that nature is a master collaborator, as proven by the Rudbeckia hirta and Passiflora incarnate duo.

Planted close together, the vine quickly sought support from the stout-stemmed Susan, needy for sun, but lacking the strength to reach it alone. The black eyed Susan, not threatened, seems to welcomed the addition, together they twined and grew - now standing not two but four feet tall. Conventional thought sees the vine as overcoming the flower, but in reality, they are just two plants working together, building a structure that is maximizing photosynthesis and basking in the sun while providing protective habitat small life dwelling in the area.

A lesson for us all - Collaboration can truly conquer all. The fiery skipper seems to agree.

Golden-reined Digger Wasp - fascinating and gentle despite its sinister appearance.

This is one interesting creature, so interesting I pasted the article below.

Despite its vivid alarm coloration, the Great Golden Digger Wasp is not an aggressive species of wasp. They tend to mind their own business and can be found sipping on flower nectar during the summer, but in the early spring, females prepare to lay eggs.

Females will dig into loose soil and create many deep tunnels. When established, she then covers them to hide their existence. A female will track a small insect and sting them to paralyze them, but not to kill them. Once the prey is immobile, she will clutch it using her antennae and mandible (mouth parts) in order to fly it back to the tunnels. While in flight with her prey, it is not uncommon to see birds like robins or tanagers attempt to steal her meal from her by chasing her until she drops it. No other known species of Digger Wasp is known to be harassed by birds in this way. If the female is successful in returning to her tunnels with her catch, she will place the paralyzed prey aside to quickly inspect a tunnel. If it looks like it's still intact, she will pull the paralyzed insect, head first, down into it. She then lays an egg on the insect, exits the tunnel, and covers it over again. She repeats this process for each tunnel. Unlike other wasps, she does not actively defend her nest. Once hatched, the wasp larvae will feed on the living, yet immobile, insect until they are developed enough to leave the tunnel lair in the summer. Eventually, the parasitism of the paralyzed insect kills it.

Scientists are studying the behavior of this unique species. Great Golden Digger Wasps seem to display a type of internal programming. If their insect prey is moved away from the tunnel while the female inspects it, she will emerge, relocate it, bring it back to the tunnel entrance and start the inspection all over again. Every female exhibited the same repetitive 'start inspection again' behavior when tested in that way.

Females have also shown that they do not keep a tally of how many insects they catch versus how many tunnels they create. If some meals are stolen by birds, they do not realize that they are short on insects compared to tunnels.

With such gorgeous orange and black coloration, mild demeanor, and interesting behaviors, the Great Golden Digger Wasp is one to admire, not destroy. Perhaps a careful observer will discover even more fascinating things about this species.

Planet Popsicles — and spam

I received a spam email this summer with a bold photo of a popsicle asking, “How do you cool off in the heat of the summer?” I immediately thought about how the planet cools off. That spam email inspired these ephemeral sculptures, I used the materials mother nature uses to cool the planet.

PLANET POPSICLES

6” X 1” X 12” ephemeral

Sticks, H20, Passionflower, Fall obedient plant, and American Beautyberry

PLANET POPSICLES

6” X 6” X 24” ephemeral

Sticks, H20, Passionflower, Fall obedient plant, and American Beautyberry, Beatles, Pokeweed, Scarbs, Golden Rod, passed butterflies, and passed moths

Symbiosis Relationships 10/2022

New World Giant Swallowtail and Milkweed and the health of Monarchs. This tropical mikweed HAS to be cut down November 1. The Milkweeds are the host plants for Monarchs. They need to move south by November and won’t head south if Tropical Milkweed is available as a host.

Monarch and Climbing Hempvine. Climbing Hempvine is an aromatic delight. It reminds me if warmed sweet honey. The Monarchs agree.

Purple Coneflower and the Gulf Fritillary Butterfly.

Mockingbirds and the fence. I have learned that birds need habitats with multiple elevations. The fence is a popular place for birds to look for insects and tiny toads to eat while keeping an eye on predators.

Monarch and Climbing Hempvine.

Ask upper of the Hesperiini family

Gulf fritillaryon American beauty berry.

GulfFritillary on Marsh fkeabane pictured below.

Marsh fleabane

Gulf fritillary and Lawndale’s mailbox. Over a few weeks the count in the doorway climbed to over 200.

In identified mushrooms.

Carpenter bee

Gukf Fritillary are eating everything

How nature arranges itself

Chrysalis on crabgrass stem

Morning glory, mile a minute vine.

Carpenter bee and Obedient flower

The White viened pipevinesis is the host plant for the Pipelvine swallowtails. I wish I had more. The caterpillars devoures it, and then it comes back.

Cloudless Sulphur and Turkscap

Hemiargus ceraunus, it blue ceraunus,an d pasted native plants.

Monarch and Blue mist flower

Northern Mocking bird perched on the fence.

Northern Mockingbird and trough pond

Hesperiina And Frogfruit

Pushfly and Passiflora leaf

True Sparrow stays in messy bush like spaces for safety and for a source of caterpillars

American snout butterfly

Gulf Fritillary with OE

“Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE) is a debilitating protozoan parasite that infects monarchs. Infected adult monarchs harbor thousands or millions of microscopic OE spores on the outside of their bodies. When dormant spores are scattered onto eggs or milkweed leaves by infected adults, monarch larvae consume the spores, and these parasites then replicate inside the larvae and pupae. Monarchs with severe OE infections can fail to emerge successfully from their pupal stage, either because they become stuck or they are too weak

to fully expand their wings. Monarchs with mild OE infections can appear normal but live shorter lives and cannot fly was well as healthy monarchs.

Although recent research shows that tropical milkweed can lower OE replication within infected monarchs (due to high levels of cardenolide toxins), this might not benefit the monarch population. In

fact, this could actually promote disease spread by allowing moderately infected

I PROJECT MONARCH

HEALTH

monarchs that otherwise would have died quickly following eclosion to live longer and spread more parasite spores.“- monarch parasites.

Symbiosis Celebration: Eco—Systems

Symbiosis Celebration

social sculpture

—from Chemical Plants to Native Plants—

Native Wildflowers, Food, Art, Music and Migration

Fall color tourism contributes $1 billion per year to North Carolina. Houston has fall and spring color migration; we can cultivate them into tourism and build soil health.

“For profit is the fuel that will change society's landscape practices to embrace the planet's ecological systems in Houston. Applying economics and industrial concepts to my work, I see ecotourism as an untapped resource that can strengthen our environmental and economic health. I propose nurturing and marketing Houston’s ecotourism, through a Symbiosis Celebration of migration, that ultimately encourages and celebrates new mutualistic relationships between Houstonians and the planet. Through fostering relationships that regenerate Houston's micro-ecosystems, we will move our reputation from Chemical Plants to Native Plants — we can prosper as the Green Energy City.” — cindee travis klement

“If you dig deep and keep peeling the onion, artists and freelance writers are the leaders in society - the people who start to get new ideas out.” — Allan Savory

In April 2021, I installed the first native plants in Symbiosis, in Lawndale's Mary E. Bawden Sculpture Garden. Within two months, Symbiosis exploded with bountiful native blooms. Plants expected by the Ladybird Wildflower website to be one to three feet tall in Symbiosis were instead two to four feet tall. In June, the endangered native bees started returning. In the first twelve months, I have witnessed seventy new species in the space: from bird nest fungus to Red Admirals, Monarchs and skippers, skimmers, one of the bumblebees listed as endangered, Bombus pensylvanicus, treefrogs, toads and birds.

Building Mutual Symbiotic Relationships to Power Ecological Recovery

In preparation for the celebration I envision cultivating relationships among the City of Houston, local property owners, Houston's indigenous landscape and its wildlife, soil and climate, food, restaurant, music, visual and performing arts, museums and professional sports team communities.

 The following steps will contribute to building these relationships:

·       The business and private property owners will need to redirect their existing landscape budgets to native plants that support our wildlife.

·       These new landscape practice guidelines will align with the Mayor's Office of Sustainability and Resilience.

·       New native wildflower and grass landscapes will slow rainwater, allowing it to soak in and return to the aquifer to cool the planet while sequestering carbon and storing it in the ground where it is stable, providing food and safe habitats for our indigenous wildlife.

·       The approximately six hundred species of birds, four hundred and thirty species of butterflies, eight hundred species of Texas native bees, one thousand species of moths, eighteen species of dragonflies, thirty species of turtles, including two box turtles, and seventy-two species of amphibians native to Texas will expand their populations in our city.

·       Houston's creatives in the food, restaurant, music, visual and performing arts, museums and professional sports industries will respond to the new mutualistic/symbiotic relationships among Houston's landowners and our unique plant and wildlife in exciting creative ways and performances during the celebratory periods.

·       The City of Houston will promote, market, and support the above-described new relationships with its services infrastructure, completing the mutualistic relationship that will support Houston's economy and ecosystems.

Why Houston Can Support Ecotourism

Although Symbiosis taught me the speed with which an urban landscape can transform into a wildlife haven, it was not until I was in Fredericksburg that I realized Houston's ecology is an untapped tourist economy. When you combine Houston's rich soil, high humidity, heat and long growing seasons with the indigenous native plant landscapes supported by Houston's urban irrigated commercial and park landscapes, Houston's native plant wildflower and wildlife tourism can far exceed those of the small towns in Central Texas. Another tremendous asset is Houston's central geographic location in the bird and butterfly migration paths between the North and South American continents and our proximity to the Gulf Coast. Texas has the most butterfly species of any state in the United States. Houston's inner city is 600 square miles; our "sprawl" is an asset to urban ecotourism.

As additional support that Houston can be an ecotourism powerhouse, I have read that one of New York City's most popular tourist attractions is The High Line's native landscaping. In North Texas, Plano also uses wildflowers and music to attract tourism dollars.

Funding

I see businesses and organizations all over the city which are starting to take advantage of the ecological benefits of native landscapes. Unfortunately, many other property owners (business and home) are unaware of the economic and environmental benefits of native plant landscaping. They spend $50-$100 per hour for weekly maintenance and $4—$12 per square foot for seasonal plantings, while also incurring high water usage and bills. Suppose the City appeals to these businesses and individuals to convert their existing non-ecological landscape budgets to native wildflower and grass landscapes. In that case, the City can promote a native plant/wildflower and wildlife, food, arts and music festival that will symbiotically support native ecological systems. The supporting businesses can profit from the tourism they generate.

The Texas Can-Do Spirit

Systems thinking to mitigate climate through industry and the arts is a new territory — will Houstonians embrace this new field of thinking? In Texas, that depends on how you ask and present the need. In our recent history, from Katrina to hurricane Harvey, unsolicited Houstonians volunteered to help their neighbors. In 1901, wildcatters discovered Spindletop, drawing people worldwide to build a better life in unknown territory. “Wildcatter” is used to describe one that drills wells in areas not known to be producing fields. The spirit of the wildcatter is deep in our Texas Can-Do Spirit. It is in our nature to embrace a new field of wild.

Why Big Ideas Are Important.

“The climate needs big, public, audacious goals that everyone can contribute to,” he argues. “Cathedrals were not completed in the lifetime of anyone starting them, but communities bought into these projects.” -The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/12/19/climate-change-cathedral-project/

Symbiosis - the ripples

For many artists, satisfaction comes from selling their work. For me, happiness comes when others mimic my work.

A little over a year ago, I met a young couple with a commercial landscape business dept. I invited them to be part of my social sculpture water + air + citizen that took place this past winter. I shared with them the next phase of Carbon By The Yard. This spring I among many volunteers, briefly helped Maggie and Isaac install their inspiring monumental version this spring. Luckily it survived the drought and made the Chronicle.

This Novrmber 5th carbon By The Yardwhich will take place this November 5th. During the community family celebration on November 5th, the relief Carbon By The Yard will be transformed into Carbon Sink. Stay tuned to learn more.

Symbiosis - Pipevine Swallowtail eggs.

I saw a blue swallowtail flitting across the garden, looking for a suitable host plant for her eggs. Below are images of Eggs under the same leaves the following days. This post will be ongoing. As I see Pipevine Swallowtails, I will document them here.

Swallowtail laying eggs under a white vein Morning glory leaf. 8/13 2:29

Full view of blue swallow tail 8/13

Swallowtail caterpillars eggs . 8/13 3:57

8/14 5:04

8/14

8/14

8/17 10:19

Symbiosis - The first anniversary and a feisty or rebellious future.

What would the next twelve months look like?

A two-year-old can be feisty, or would it be more like a rebellious teenager coming into its sexuality?

April of 2021, I started installing the plant material in “Symbiosis.” Seeing, hearing and smelling the transformation has been a gift. This past spring marked the first anniversary. This post celebrates the relationships and natural systems I have documented from the first anniversary through mid-August.

Keep in mind that in the summer of 2020, when I agreed to install a site specific living sculpture, I went every day to observe the space. Sitting and looking — observational research is a big part of my work.

How did it function in the ecosystem? The mowed nonnative zoysia turf grass was neat within its “borders.” The nonnative shrubs and plants were in aligned rows amongst compressed dirt and it was static. As the summer days warmed the bare spaces, the rising heat never created any movement in the garden. It was designed in rows and easy to maintain with gas-powered mowers and edgers. The first soil test revealed that the garden was void of life. The lower food chain of earthworms and grubs was absent. That explained why the birds flew by without landing. There was nothing for them to forage or seek shelter from predators.  It did not soak up much water and sequestered little carbon. Lawndale’s Sculpture Garden was a dysfunctional plot of earth. It was green but not part of the coastal prairie ecosystem.

In a sea of Midtown asphalt and groomed properties in April of 2021, I questioned; would any wildlife find the small space? Failure was possible.

Nature was undeniably resilient in year one. Symbiosis was a living sculpture, a functioning part of the coastal prairie and the New World. The installation was not land art; it was a living ecosystem. It regenerated life.

On Mother’s day after the first big rain, the pond was full of white green treefrog eggs. The relationship between amphibians and clean water and important in building the lower food chain and keeping it in balance. for more details see the post Symbiosis — Green Treefrog Eggs.

Cricotopus rests on the Lawndale Art Centers building. This image is symbolic of a nonprofit art institution’s commitment to it's relationship with the natural world. Hopefully it will inspire others.

Large carpenter bee on a trumpet vine bloom.

Mutation of a rudbeckia hirta. A reminder that being different is beautiful.

the chemical free trough pond provides a habitat for toads to mate and leave their eggs. The tadpoles in return eat algae keeping the water clear and mosquito larvae. #social sculpture.

White-striped longtail enjoying a Rudebeckia hirta bloom.

Anole asserts his dominance on the trunk of a dead olive tree.

Ischnura hastata Citrine forktail on a frogfrut leaf.

Blue dock beetle enjoying the nutrition of a volunteer plant.

Spilosoma Virginia on a Rosinweed sunflower leaf.

Cricotopus Non biting midge on Rosinweed leaf.

Hippodamia convergens convergent lady beetle, on a volunteer plant.

unknown - But interesting

Celithemis fasciata and frogfruit.

Native bee _________ and Rosinseed sunflower.

Repipta taurus , Red bull assassin bug and painted blanket leaf.

Dolba hyloeus pawpaw sphinx and fall bedient plant

the perfect match a native carpenter bee’s body has evolved over the ages to fit the Passiflora incarnata perfectly.

Libellulidae- skimmer and docks. I often find skimmers perched on this past dried docks. They have a strong bond.

Mockingbirds and toads.

Mother Mockingbird feeding juvenile a tiny toad.

Juvenile Mockingbird perched on the manmade fence.

great blue skimmer (is a dragonfly) and the spent thimble flower.

2 Leafcutter bees mating.

2 Leafcutter bees mating and a spent painted blanket bloom.

Atalopedes campestris (called sachem in the United States and Canada) is a small grass skipper butterfly and frog fruit.

Another view

Hemiargus_ceraunus and frogdruit.

Umbrella paper wasp and spent sunflower.

Paper wasp and passion flower. PLANTS CALL WASPS TO THE RESCUE WITH AN AROMA THE INSECTS LOVE. This is a special relationship.

More (green eyed) leaf cutter bees mating again on spent painted blanket bloom.

Male Eastern Carpenter bee- check out those big green eyes and fall obedient plant.

Sphex Digger wasp. On passiflora incarnata

Obscure Bird Grasshopper shaded by the leaves of Turks cap.

Palpada vinetorum is a species of syrphid fly in the family Syrphidae.[1][2][3][4] It is a native flower fly species to North America, mainly found in Texas and parts of the east coast and fall obedient plant.

A pipevine swallowtail or Blue swallowtail laying eggs on a dried leaf of a red salvia. .

Battus philenor, the pipevine swallowtail or blue swallowtail and a morning glory vine.

Gulf fritillery butterfly and a passiflora incarnate

Dolba hyloeus (pawpaw sphinx) is a moth of the family Sphingidae and a fall obedient bloom.

Follow up post coming soon

Female common Whitetail skipper and a dried stem of a Rosin weed sunflower.

Leafcutter native bee and frogfruit.

Spiderweb that and dew . Does the quenching dew lure prey into the spiders web. I see a relationship between the spider and Earth’s closed water system.

Eastern carpenter bee and a rotting tree.

Eastern carpenter bee building a nest in a rotting wood.

Leafcutter bee and blanket flower.

Leafcutter bee with a petal of a blanket flower Gaillardia pulchella. They use the petals to build their nests.

American toad And Earth’s closed water system.

American toad out for a stroll during the rain.

Plushback fly and Salvia azure.

Another species of leadcutter bee cutting a bllanket flowr petal.

Swallowtail butterfly and white veined morning glory.

Swallowtail butterfly depositing an egg on white veined morning glory. Follow up post coming soin.

Jumping spider and fall obedient plant.

Plushback fly and blue salvia

The relationship between rainwater or dew and plants is a crucial part of any ecosystem. In this case the few is is on a stem of crabgrass. If you run your fingers down the stem you will notice the texture that slows water from running off it's surface too fast.

Dew and stems

Carpenter bee and Salvia azure

I have noticed that plant material on the edges of symbiosis stops garbage from blowing from the convenience store. I see this as another way plants are in partnership with our various ocean.

Anole safely camouflaged in the chaotic lines of the vines mixed with a diversity of plant stems.

Juvenile mocking bird on a dead olive tree branch. I saw about six of them hiding in the American beautyberry after the rain. Now that the installation is a year old, it is getting height and layers. This added heights provides the birds with more protection, berries and perches for hunting small prey.

Stink bug on American beauty very.

Carpenter bee getting a back rub wile collecting nectar and pollen on a purple passion flower.

four-banded stink bug hunter wasp

Sphex habenus, Golden-reined Digger Wasp and Rosin weed sunflower.

Sunlight nesting in Rattlesnake master.

?

Subtribe Hesperiina And milkweed.

Subtribe Hesperiina And frogfruit

? Bee on Rattlesnake master

roseate skimmer and fall obedient plant.

Skipper on bloom less salvia stem.

New World Checkered skipper and everybody’s buddy frog fruit.

Sor ies of fly sleeping in butterfly faea Bush.

Ragweed

Why we shouldn’t rag on ragweed? The seeds of ragweed are rich in fatty oils. Fats are not only Ebut also is for fattening up birds and small mammals such as Eastern Cottontail, Meadow Vole, grasshoppers which eat the leaves, Dark-eyed Junco, Brown-headed Cowbird, Northern Bobwhite, Purple Finch, Mourning Dove, American Goldfinch, and the Red-bellied Woodpeckers to get them through the lean winter months.

It is an ancient grain for humans and ragweed is a valuable food source for the caterpillars of many butterflies and moths including the striking wavy-lined emerald and the uniquely adapted bird dropping moths. The seeds of ragweed are rich in fatty oils. Birds and small mammals readily consume ragweed seeds to help fatten up for the lean months to come.

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus — The Bison in the Texaco Star

The Bison in the Texaco Star

The third pasture/exhibition

 As in agriculture that rejuvenates the soil, the bison has rotated to its third pasture/exhibition. It began in a historic grain silo/art venue in Sculpture Month Houston's Altamira, which considered modern caveman's materials and message to the future, followed by the Blue Norther exhibit, where the bison addressed extreme weather's connection to soil. Now it brings its message to the Houston Forever exhibition in the former Texaco Building in downtown Houston.

The Star building, former home of Texaco, the company that developed the Spindletop gusher in 1901 and took the US into the oil age, is a key location in the sculpture's rotation. The bison in the Star embodies our civilization's conflict "between" ecology and commerce. Before Spindletop, oil was primarily used for lighting and as a lubricant. With Spindletop's abundance, Texaco began marketing petroleum for mass consumption. What can we learn about natural carbon cycling through the soil from the herd's eating and waste habits — also called consumption and regeneration — contrasted with the development of the energy industry and our society's mass consumption without individual responsibility for regeneration? Comparing and contrasting these two energy sources, both receive energy from the earth: one where each consumer returns carbon to the soil and the other supplying a chain of energy but still trying to figure out how to repay its debt of carbon for future generations. Integrating natural systems of regeneration can steer our innovation and creative minds to a future in which consumption, conservation and regeneration of earth's resources are in balance.

Rosinweed sunflower bloom and spider.

Tiny spent sunflower bloom/seed head-the colors - suttle and faded, still rich and deep. The shapes of the seeds as they dried ❤️ The beauty of the natural world when you stop and look. I studied this dried object probably 4 minutes turning it in my fingers watching the white blooms from the crepe myrtle attached by the thread of a spider and then turning it over hiding underneath- a creature. As we enter the Anthropocene, saving insects is a priority in “Symbiosis.” When I edit out any materials such as this elegant, delicate, dried Rosinweed sunflower head from the garden, I do not bag them and put them in a trash can. I chop and drop. This tiny spider is evidence that chopping and dropping not only builds soil and saves money it also saves insects.

Green Tree Frog Eggs

We had the first big spring rain the week before Mother’s Day. That Saturday , I stopped in "Symbiosis" to check out the wildlife and chat with anyone visiting the exhibitions. To my surprise, the pond is now a green tree frog nursery. The trough pond is surrounded by tall native plants that tree frogs love. I have not seen the green tree frogs since last year, I thought I heard them one night few weeks ago. Mother toads and tree frogs have to have water to lay their eggs. I believe tree frogs lay their eggs on limbs where they fall in the water.

Above are a few watercolor monotypes I did of the tree frog.

Symbiosis- Food chain - Mockingbirds and Toads

On an early July morning, with a new camera in my hands, I was hopeful the zoom lens would document unseen details in Symbiosis. I focused the lens on the “feed me” gesture of the juvenile bird. Later zooming in on the image on my computer revealed the middle of the food chain — A Mockingbird feeding a juvenile, not a caterpillar, wasp, or an insect but a slight blurry silhouette of a toad. On my laptop, I witnessed the middle of the food chain, a moment in a living sculpture, evidence of a healthy ecosystem and hope in a sea of asphalt on the Gulf Coast.

In Symbiosis building, a food chain that has not been exposed to chemicals or pesticides is crucial to building a base and armature that supports the more visible kinetic elements — wildlife and humans, the upper food chain. Its strength is critical to the success of the whole.

I use systems thinking to plan and organize my sculptural additions and extractions to the piece. In this case, not using pesticides to control insect pests or unruly vegetation is a priority. The water feature in the garden invites mosquitos, dragonflies, frogs, toads, and aquatic insects to lay their eggs in the still water. The tadpoles, nymphs, and Texas mosquito fish eat the mosquito larvae.

In the work, all of the individual species are linked by the health and abundance of the lower species. “Symbiosis” is an element of the “living” Earth, a community of organisms existing within the Art center's sculpture garden and social sculpture.

That Was Then This is Now.

July 2020 - the sculpture garden as it was when Stephanie and I first discussed the project.

February 2021. After the Texas freeze

May 2022 - 12 months from installation.