A note from my Uncle and artist John Warren Travis recalling the landscapes that have shaped his work and words- genes are strange and mysterious creatures.

i arrived in california in 1960 to someone raised in el paso. texas in the forties, it was transcendent the ocean the state parks the tree lined streets on the hills and the flowers flowers everywhere i still rermember west texas with its deserts and mountains i look back on therm with awe the franklin the pass to the north el paso del norte mt cristo rey carlsbad caverns there was no t.v. i still can recall these locales and vistas i carry my landscapes with me san francisco was another country the fog the hippies the hills the bridges the bay the theatre of the haight ashbury all were intoxicating i paid my way by teaching and designing sets and costumes and inadvertently with help from many others eager to change the landscape of the american theatre we succeeded at some point i wanted to become a fine arts painter and moved gradually to painting my feelings about the abundance around me landscapes that were both spiritual and cultural sadly two years ago i had to leave california and move to columbia missouri the heart of the midwest a wise man once said the midwest is the last frontier and i am beginning to believe he was right the lanscapes here are bolder the huge skies the seas of grass the trees a bald cypress that is over 800 years on the old lewis and clark trail the big muddy the great missouri i still think of el paso and san francisco at night in my dreams in this time of covid i cannot go back thankfully i carry my landscapes with me

Looking at changing landscapes through my work, I find inspiration in my uncle’s poetic expression of landscapes through grand brush stokes on canvas, eloquent theater designs and rivers of prose. He posted this on Facebook earlier this week. Clearly Travis genes are deeply rooted in love for landscape and nature.

Uncle Warren  to be closer to family has retired to aunt Genie Lou and uncle Widgies’s ranch in Columbia Missouri. He is still actively painting and keeping up with his website.

https://www.johnwarrentravis.com/

Recording natural history - ”Mute Testimony”

Recording natural history

Mute Testimony.

3” X 6” X 4”

bronze

phot by Nash Baker

A fossil is our planet’s recorded history, the memoir of a life in a place, time, ecology, and evidence of global warming. It is Endangered Knowledge.

Many processes in art and the natural world lead to fossilization, including casting or mold making. I crafted a mold of a fossil that one of my children found at my son Griffin’s 8th birthday party in El Paso, Texas. It was a fossil hunting party at Cerro de Cristo Rey. (The intersection of two countries and three states, a special place.) A prehistoric relic, now a family treasure, I thought it would be meaningful to make a mold and cast it in bronze for each of my two children, a reminder of their childhood. A mold-of-a-mold a fossil-of-a-fossil. I found the redundancy poetic.

My son is now 31 years old. I have probably walked by the fossil once a day since Griffin was eight years old and did not think twice about it. Casting, it has forced me to think about the form and its value as an object of art. Evidence of aquatic life resurrected from the middle of the Chihuahuan desert— This poetic symbol of desertification will find meaningful ways to wander across disciplines into future environmental works.

Hearing, “this desert was once an ocean.” did not use to phase me. Thinking about the mineral remnant of a sea creature surfacing in one of the driest terrains in the US gives me pause; it makes me consider how we can live our urban lives and preserve natural systems.

I cast three additional fossils to share with others who are interested in natural history; two are finished in a natural patina and one in a contemporary finish — polished stainless steel.

Traces of ancient life tell story of early diversity in marine ecosystems

Stainless Steel finish changes everything 🤔 more to come

what we think we become

I started this piece 1 1/2 years ago but neglected to have it photographed until this week. Seeing it through the photographer’s eye, it has an additional layer of meaning in 8/2020.

Originally it was a maquette for a memorial piece. We ended up going a different path for the memoriam. Personally I was happy this piece emerged from the event and cast it in bronze. It resonates with me because years ago I became fascinated, completely sucked in by modern neurology. Neurology was my obsession. I read everything a Mom could get her hands on. My favorite was Phantoms in the Brain by V. S. Ramachandran. The brain is amazing and especially since neurologists have learned that it is plastic and is changed with everything you do, everything you tell yourself or others tell you changes your brain. This knowledge is what gives every human a chance for hope. Dreaming is the first step, and self-talk is hugely important. You can control how you see the world, and how you see yourself, “fake it until you make it works“. What you think you will become”.

The additional layer - living through a pandemic is choosing how one reacts to stressful and depressing situations. Humans choose how we react and how we see. “what you think you will become”. The texture of the piece is composed of repetitive arched lines, they are mirrored in the profiles/contours of the work. It is an abstract sculpture but I clearly read “what we think we become”. What we look for we will find, 8/2020 is a good time to control your thoughts and look for the light. If you look for it you will find it.

“what you think you become”

bronze

12” X 4” X 3”