Faux bois Wedding gift ❤️❤️#20

The hard work is done. I did a little sanding on the seat so it won’t snag anyone clothes and then I was able to get some help moving it to a place where I can stand back and look at the work.

Front and reflection in the pond

Back view

Bronze

Lovebirds back

Left side view

Left back leg

Back right leg

Another view of the back right legs

Back right view of right legs

Back branch

Back left where back branches and legs connect

Front right legs - I love their hug

the seat texture

A piece of metal that was in my Dad’s ashes and his last name - Travis carved to the right of the metal bolt. I am guessing it is from one of his four hip replacements.

Griffin and Alex after their vows. - the lovebirds January 3, 2018

They will be in Houston for two weeks for Sage and Cameron Cuenods legal wedding vows June 12, 2020.

I Am looking forward to showing it to them. And I would like their opinion regarding a stain/patina.

Art Activism -wahoo!

Since last November I have been dropping hints to Houston Chronicle writer Molly Glentzer to write a native bee article. Earlier this week she called to talk about native bees. Some of the information I talk about when I talk about bees is alarming. She asked if I knew a locacal native bee athaurity, I did not. She said she could find one.
Here article came out today. Sadly she did not mention my bee art activism but the native bee specialist confirmed everything I have been saying. And yes It is alarming. Knowledge is power. - plant native non hybrid plants, blue, purple, yellow and white primarily. Starting the conversation with art activism.

her awesome article is below.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/gardening/article/Your-Houston-garden-needs-native-bees-15287310.php

Herman Park bees

Early last winter I was at the Herman Park family garden- it is a jewel of a garden. They had everything; yummy plants, honey bees, fruits, and veggies galore. They had almost everything, I say almost- they did not give a native bee condo.It was my pleasure to gift to the Herman Park family garden an air, Bee, And Bee. It is awesomely installed right next to the berries. I also have them a bunch of reeds full of blue orchard bees. I hope their air bee and bee outs out the no vacancy sign soon. My vacant little bee condo houses lizards—no bees in my area. :(

Herman Oatks newly installed air bee and bee.

Rumblings-Augochloropsis anonyma

In the past years blogging about my art practice was something I did everyday. It is how I document ny work. Then I started focusing on bees and their role in urban environments. Idecide to post a cool fact about native bees in my daily art post. Researching what fact to post bees has been like falling through the looking glass. I like to really get into whatever it is I am getting into. As a result the summer of 2019 Curtis and I binged watched bee documentaries. Sadly these are all about honey bees. I read every article that pops up on bees. I am constantly amazed at how much is unknown about this everyday insect. It has been so overwhelming I stopped posting information about the bees. I just could not pick just one cool thing to post a day.

There is very little information available about the Augochloropsis anonyma which is very frustrating. They are a sweat bee and there is a fair amount known about the sweat bees; they are a brilliant metallic blue-green color and one of the 140 members of the Halictidae family.
The earned the nickname sweat bees because they are attracted to sweat. With this information it is good to know they are not aggressive. They will only sting if you press them into your skin. If you are studying bees or garden and don’t want them to land on you wipe off the sweat and they will leave you alone. Please don’t hurt them. They are essential wild native bees.

You have probably seen one flying around wildflowers and various crops, including stone fruits, alfalfa and sunflowers but did not know you were seeing a bee. They are known as generalist and will pollinate almost anything. These bees fly under the radar, Being extremely tiny they measure only 0.125 to 0.5 inches in length they. You have to keep your eye out to notice this keystone creature.

Besides being generalist I see them as important because Augochloropsis anonyma adults have a long window of activity, and produce more than two generations of offspring a year. They are active between April and September in the northern portion of their range and year-round in its southern range. Having this long window of activity makes this species more likely to forage from a large number of different plants.

SITE Gallery- Sculpture Month Houston - Installing the work - my pregame plan

With lots of time spent preparing to install my work, installing it went by quickly.

During the days prior to the installation, I imagined trying multiple compositions of the pre-assembled sections, spending lots of time looking at it, adjusting it, and tweaking it and then adding smaller elements to tie the work together... and repeating the same process over and over until I was satisfied it was finished. That was my pre-game mental plan.

Once the support structure was in place, secure, and painted, it was time to install the work. First, I hung the two pieces I knew would be part of this work. I then looked at the way the shadows were falling on the concave surface of the wall and hung the two end pieces. It was then late in the day, and I decided to call it a day and decide what the next step was with fresh eyes in the morning.

The next day I showed up early in the day ready to sit, look and make changes that would be best for the work on the concave wall of a silo. I was excited to see the curator, Volker Eisele, in the parking lot when I arrived. I invited him to come take a look at my progress. 

Smiling he said, "You are done, it is finished." I was really happy that he was pleased, really happy. I was also surprised. Finishing this early was not my game plan. Yikes! It isn’t easy for me to mentally change my game plan. I think Volker could see this in my face, and as he walked away, he said, "You know my name is on this too, it is good." I completely understood and reminded myself how lucky I was that he liked it.

A good problem.🙂

ps. I now have the equivalent of another silo full of work in my studio………. bursting at the seems. Anyone need a keystone animal environmental installation?

7 days left

7 days left to rip and wrangle rusted wire cloth, then delicately stitch the wire fragments into biospheres of frail and vulnerable abstract wild bees and organic shapes. Then coat hydro stone and cast shadows, to kinetically unveil the unintended consequences of forcing natural processes into an industrial model. Then pack, transport, unpack, install for 21 days, and open........ find more locations to install......... rinse and repeat.

Bombus and the blueberry

This is a continuation of an earlier post that documented my intuitive process to embrace and abstract the bee that was listed on the endangered species list January 11, 2017.

The posting was titled Embracing Bombus Affinis. Here is one more experiment.

In the experimental piece below I focused on the transparency of the wings.Through the wings you can see the bees hairs on the back of his abdomen. You can also see the flora in the background and through his wings. FYI- a favorite of the Rusty Patch bumble bee is blueberries. Blueberries are one of my favorites too. There is always a box of blueberries in our refrigerator. I hate the thought of my blueberries being pollinated in a lab.

Bombus Affinis VI

30” X 44”

I am not sure if showing the transparency is necessary or if it bogs down the energy with too much information.

If you want to help insure our food remains pollinated as nature intended see below-

Limit the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers whenever possible or avoid them entirely. Pesticides cause lethal and sublethal effects to bees and other pollinators.

https://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/insects/rpbb/factsheetrpbb.html

The ghost print

Hurricane Harvey - sculpture day 6 “bringing home the bacon”

“score” - #25 marching on

I was able to get another full day of work in. I was primarily focused on integrating the large piece of welded wire that makes up the movement created by his right arm with the steel and plaster figure’s arm and head. I am integrating the two by adding small broken pieces of wire cloth within the welded wire. 

Shoulder and neck attaching to the head  

Shoulder view from the front  

I also added some tiny delicate wires to the movement of the bows. The delicate sounds coming off the strings.  

the top back of the head 

One of my artist friends Vincent Blair stopped in and took a quick pic as I worked.  

My wire stash is on the pedestal. 

"drifting"

drifting"

36" X 45" X 55"  

found object wire cloth

This piece is made from upcycled wire cloth I found at Txrx labs. They pour aluminum and use these wire strips to reinforce their molds. They break out the castings and leave the wire mesh in the yard. I always pick it up when we pour bronze because it is sharp. I started playing with it while we waited for the bronze to heat. I fell in love with it's malability, rusted patina and chunks of plaster embedded between the wires.  

I sculpted this when I was thinking about urban ecology and  how successful birds and especially pigeons have evolved in urban environments. In contrast many of the people we see in these environments with pigeons appear to be struggling to stay present.  

This figure leans in on his left side where he is clearly involved in the environment around him. His right side is patently struggling to stay present and his head/brain and right side upper body are not visible to the viewer. Evidence of their absence is depicted through the torn collar and shredded back right of shirt. 

I can't to come up with the perfect base for him. Right now he is temporarily sitting in a box wrapped in paper.  

If you are in NYC check out my piece @ Site:Brooklyn art gallery

 
The Figure: Interpreted Through Contemporary Mediums

Juried by Barbara A. MacAdam

Site:Brooklyn
165 7th St
Brooklyn, NY

for details see the link below.  

 http://eepurl.com/cvMw0f

Site:Brooklyn

Artist Reception – Wednesday January 18th 6-9PMJan 19 – Feb 19, 2017

Gail Nadeau - "The Red Kimono"Artists:

Steven Palumbo, Kang Sean, Courtney Bae, Elise Thompson, John Gallagher, Petrea Noyes, Carol Coates, Phillip Connell, Tom Acevedo, Barbara Smith, Ronald Gonzalez, Cindee Klement, Andrew Hockenberry, Deborah Druick, Robin Dintiman, Kathy Collins, Claire Gilliam, Candice Flewharty,
Farnosh Olamai Birch, John Power, Philippe Hyojung Kim, Ola Aldous,
Greta Young, Gail Nadeau, Mary Lou Greene, Tomas Modzelewski,
Claire Apana, John Patrick Snyder, Alain Rogier, Diana Burchfield,
Alexa Hoyer, Sophie Brenneman, John Kayrouz, Brooke Alexander,
Joshua Dean, Owen Brown, Sharon Bartel Clements, Rajab Sayed,
John Edwards, Gill Alexander, Lee Ann Carr, Colleen Kelly,
Michelle Muri-Sloane

peace pigeon project #6 - grounded

Roots  

These roots have been taking up space in my work area for at least three years. It feels so good to finally use them.  

Rear view  

Drawing that inspired the series.  

German beak trumpeter pigeon with leg muffs

shake shake shake IV started

10/5/1016

10/11

End of day 10/11

I want this one to have it's front right paw off the ground. In order to achieve this the paw will be lightly defined to keep it physically light and the left side will have to be very sturdy- tricky

End of day 10/12

Right paw lifted.  

Awkward view.  

Working on the backside.  

From the back  

10/24  

Left side