Symbiosis: Why I am not anti-freeze

Humans naturally mourn the economic and surface loss of colorful flowers and green plants from a freeze. It is easy to become wrapped up in the superficial aspects. With systems thinking central to my eco-art practice, I wonder if there is an ecological purpose for a freeze. It has been a month since the freeze giving me time to watch and wonder. I have looked beyond the skin-deep perspective and discovered something beautiful about how a freeze gives life.

A week after the freeze, the same space is transformed into the earth tones of a 1980’s residential den.

This freeze occurred at the end of the second year since the Symbiosis installation. It was my first freeze with native plants and opened a floodgate of realizations and thoughts about freezes.

A freeze in the tropics looks and acts differently than in the northern US, but how are freezes in the tropics different than those in the Northern states? How does slimy organic matter from a freeze in the tropics impact its soil complexity? A freeze in a coastal prairie garden that has shade from a two-story building is not like a freeze in a sunny open field. Is there a relationship between the freeze and the drought, is there a relationship between seasons? For the past month, these are the questions I have taken with me when I visit Symbiosis and research on line.

What initially appears to be a destructive event can be the seed necessary for regrowth. Prairie plants are particularly delicate in these intense freezes as frozen water expands and rips apart cell walls, destroying their armature. When the thaw period eventually comes, and the water drains away, all that remains is a slimy puddle of cell slime.

A small corner of Symbiosis before the December 2022 freeze.

These slimy puddles and decaying plants quickly milt into the soil, building its complexity and enabling it to store carbon, cooling the planet and soaking up water. When it breaks down, it provides food for microorganisms in the soil. A freeze is a quick and intense way to quickly build a large amount of living soil in the subtropics. This is a refreshing reminder of how our actions have real-world impacts. I am leaving the dead organic material to break down naturally. I am mindful of the inherent beauty of all seasons, all colors of ground cover, and the event's natural power and energy potential. Understanding and honoring freezes can improve Earth’s health for future generations. It is the fastest, most economical way to build a large quantity of soil. When it comes to soil carbon as an asset, a freeze is an economic plus.

I am not anti-freeze - instead, I'm pro-freeze!

Almost two weeks after the freeze and the new growth is noticeable. . The dried plants are crumbling into soil.

I still have unanswered questions and I am hopeful they will reveal themselves through Symbiosis. Until them I walk the garden every day in complete amazement the new growth rise through the decaying material as it melts in the armature of the soil.

Camouflage, fire ants and anole

When maintaining “Symbiosis” and when I observe urban landscapes, I see the beauty in decaying plants and the tiny creatures they protect. This brown anole is a garden beneficial, keeping fire ants and other insects in check. Without camouflage, they are prey for birds, snakes, and some spiders. As an artist I find beauty through systems thinking and a balanced ecosystem.

Can you find him/her mimicking a dried, twisted leaf?

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 — Gerhert Prairie Rescue plants

On October 7th, I was invited to participate in rescuing prairie plants from the Gerhart Prairie south of Houston. The Prairie, I believe, is part of the Texas Nature Conservancy. A manufacturer has a fenced-off area on the property. They will put in a road through the prairie to service the fenced-in operations. We were rescuing the plants in the designated place on the future road. Several Master Naturalists identified plants, as did Mark Morganstern of Morningstar Nursery. Mark kindly reaches out to me when free and needy plants are available.

That Saturday, I received an amazing list of the plants I rescued.

1.)  Helianthus angustifolia  (aka Swamp Sunflower)

            this is the tall 'sunflower' plant with the very narrow leaves that have the edges rolled under.

                (I think I may have inadvertently referred to this as Maximillian Sunflower, which is not what this is)     

 2.)  Baptisia sphaerocarpa  (aka Yellow Wild Indigo or Yellow False Indigo)

            this plant is a small subshrub in the Fabaceae (Pea Family);  it has trifoliate leaves without subending bractlets and it has bright yellow flowers borne on erect inflorescences.  Its fruits are round, hence the Latin name sphaerocarpa which literally means 'round fruit'.  It will bloom in the spring.

3.)   Euthamia leptocephala (aka Bushy Goldentop)

            This plant is in the Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) and is closely related to the goldenrods (Solidago spp.).  Euthamias have round-topped inflorescences rather that the 'open-spray'-shaped inflorescences of the goldenrods.   There are two species of Euthamia in our area -- the other is Euthamnia gymnospermoides (aka Texas Goldentop) -- it have longer and much narrower leaves than does E. leptocephala.

4.)  Croton lindheimeri  (aka Woolly Croton or Lindheimer's Hogwort)

        This plant is a member of the Euphorbiaceae (Spurge Family).  It has very small unisexual flowers surrounding by a yellowish tomentose hairs;  the female flowers are borne near the base of the inflorescence while the male flowers are bunched near the apex of the inflorescence. This seeds of this species are an important food source for quail and dove and the plant is a larval host for several species of butterfly.

5.)  Neptunia pubescens (aka Tropical Puff)

        A member of the Fabaceae (Pea Family) in the Mimosoid clade (or subfamily) which means it does not have typical pea-shaped flowers.  The flowers are bunched onto a round receptacle or head, each with a small inconspicuous corolla, but the numerous long stamens are quite showy.  Neptunia pubescens sprawls along the ground.  It is larval host plant for the ceranus blue (Hemiargus ceranus) butterfly and its seeds are consumed by many wildlife species.

6.)  Lythrum alatum var. lanceolatum (aka Winged Loosestrife)

         This member of the Lythraceae (Loosestrife Family) grows to be about 3-4 ft tall and produces long racemose infloresceces with smallish lavendar (pink,purple) flowers.  It is a special value to native bees and is also used by hummingbirds and butterflies.

7.)  Eupatorium serotinum (aka Late-flowering Boneset)

        A member of the Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) which has rayless sporting only white disc florets.  It is a perennial that emerges early in the year, but does not bloom until August - November. While it's flowers are small there are many of them, so that the plant is a real show-stopper in the fall.  It is of special value to native bees and its nectar attracts butterflies and many other insect species and it seeds are eaten by many bird species.     The plants you dug up were fairly small (maybe due to the drought this year;  the species usually grows 4-5+ feet tall.

8.)  Agalinis heterophylla (aka Prairie Agalinis, Prairie Geradia, False Foxglove)

    This is a member of the Boraginaceae (Borage or Broomrape Family).  There are several species found locally, but the most common is Agalinis heterophylla, easily distinguished by its deeply lobed calyx.   It is a larval host for the Buckeye butterfly and attracts numerous insect species, including bees and bumblebees.

9.)  Ludwigia octovalvis  (aka Mexican Primrose Willow)

        A member of the Onograceae (Evening Primrose Family), this plant likes its feet wet, so a low spot that collects water is a great place to plant it.  It is fast growing and reseeds readily. It is a nectar source for butterflies and other insects and is a larval host for the water primrose hornworm moth (now there's a mouthful!).   

10.)  Conoclinium coelestinum  (aka Blue Mist Flower)

        Another member of the Asteraceae whose flowerhead do not have ray florets, but the long stigmas of the disc florets make for a showy flowerhead nonetheless.  This species is NOT an annual (as I misinformed you yesterday, sometimes things stick erroneously in your mind), but rather a perennial that dies back to the ground each year and also spreads readily by seed.   It attracts many late-season butterflies.  It can be a bit 'bossy' as Mary Spolyar put it, but as I have found with vigorous natives a bit of pruning/thinning doesn't hurt them in the least. 

I look forward to watching them thrive in Symbiosis.

The rescues

Symbiosis Relationship 9/2022

Skipper and Pokeweed

Endangered bumble bee and Salvia

Coral honeysuckle and a native bee.

Mocking bird using an American Westeria vine as a lookout for insects to eatt.

Passiflora incarnate and carpenter bee.

Turkey tail mushrooms breakdown rotting trees recycling the nutrients.

Jumping spider

Pachodynerus erynnis, known generally as the red-marked pachodynerus or red and black mason wasp and Lantana camera. Lantanas are complex, I am not certain if this is a native to tropical US or an import. I think it is camara since I see beetles and wasps on it.

Clouded skipper on Lantana camara.

Common green June beetle and lantana camara.

Genus Pyrisitia minisa Yellow butterfly

Golden-reined Digger Wasp

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.

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.

The largest Mammal

The eating and Waste Habits of the largest mammal of the greatest numbers on a land mass have the greatest impact on all other life forms. In Texas there are 26,448,193 humans and 10,900,000 cows. Homo sapiens are the most impactful mammal.

In today's society our eating habits define some of us socially and morally. This makes the discussion of eating meat vs. a vegan lifestyle and saving the planet a loaded topic. One of the most important topics of our day triggers emotions that progress bit discussion and block minds. When I find a movie or a book that looks at the topic in a non-threatening, non emotional context I like to highlight it.

The documentary Goodbye Cows looks at the impact of the two consumption models.

If you want to take a deeper dive into the beautiful and complex relationship between ruminants the planet and humans, I recommend the book Cows Will Save The Planet. By Judith Schwartz

On a lighter note in 2015 I was invited to visit a a friends family farm that raises cattle for consumption and regeneration. My friends incorporate methods that mimic nature and manage the cattle’s movement as predators managed herds. This process builds the health of the planet’s soil and tempers climate. .

My rancher friends Lisa and John threw some healthy treats in the back of their pick-up so that I could get some cow close-up.

The photo that inspired Mooove

I had to draw the expressive cows as they contorted, licked and moooved the pick-up clean.

MOOOVE 

4' X 6' c

harcoal, ink pastels,

2015

Below is the drawing. It still makes me laugh.

The white pedestal?

When I started in the MFAH Glassell School block program, I needed pedestals for my smaller sculptures. I made stark white cubes as I saw in museums and galleries.

Over the years, my work has transitioned to tell a specific story. I make work to reveal the beauty in diversity, the messiness in the natural world and the connections between all living things on the planet. And most importantly, I work to inspire society to step into a rhythm that will flow with the natural world and celebrate the beauty in its messiness. My work conflicts with borders that separate, clean lines that divide and sterile objects.

The white cube pedestals are a symptom of sameness, monocultures and sterile environments, a symptom of me wanting to ” look “ like I belong and fit in. A change is an imminent.

I am leting my eyes and mind play with how objects that physically support my work should look. Work that reimagines urban landscapes to balance humanity and natural systems should not be sterile cubes. What should, - what could they be?

The images below are some thoughts I am considering. .

Rocks

Bricks

Stones or concrete.

Cracks

Dried plant material

Electrical wire

Upcycled lawn furniture.

Palm tree trunk skin

Salvaged construction site rotting root with interesting chain link necklace imbedded across her shoulders.

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.

Rumblings - diversifying and implementing systems thinking.

All living and nonliving matter are connected in form or system. Through my work on “Symbiosis,”  I have witnessed the power of holistic management, also called systems thinking. I can see that Changing our decision making process to consider whole systems and connectedness is the solution to our environmental and social issues. Changing how society thinks is the driving force in my art.

With this new awareness I am inspired to consistently reflect it in my work. I have decided to rethink  “Rumblings,” which began as a collection of monotypes of 50 of the 10,000 bee species. It wasa mono crop of bees. However, you can’t separate the interconnection between bees, humans, or other living organisms and the earth's natural systems. We are all part of the living planet Earth. I will start applying systems thinking to all my installations. “Rumblings ” will celebrate the relationships among a diversity of species up and down the food chain.  I will weave into these pieces the relationships that whisper of Earths biological processes and Physical  and chemical Elements. The connections can be obvious or  subtle, they can be  unmeasurable or invisible. This will be fun.

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.

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.

Land Art vs Living Sculpture

Land art or earth art has paved the way for what I hope will become a new art movement.

The Tate defines Land art or earth art as the art made directly in the landscape, sculpting the land itself into earthworks or making structures in the landscape using natural materials such as rocks or twigs. With the Tate's definitions, Symbiosis is land art, a part of the conceptual art movement, and environmental art.

What separates Symbiosis from these traditional classifications of art are the concepts I apply to my creative decision-making process and the materials I use support and regenerate life. It values all living creatures as participants in the creative process.

My process for creating a living sculpture involves holistic decision-making. First, I incorporate a systems thinking approach to create a functional balance between the healthy ecosystem, human economics and societal landscape norms. For example, contemporary landscape designs are structured in monocrop rows or groupings separated with bare earth. To maintain the manicured design, weed-killing chemicals and gas-operated mowers and edgers are the most economical. This lack of plant diversity, geometric-in-shape groomed plantings, and chemical inputs make these landscapes uninhabitable for a diversity of wildlife other than a few lizards. For many valuable insects and microorganisms, the inputs are deadly. These designs do not consider supporting the food chain necessary in a healthy ecosystem. In Symbiosis, I keep the ground covered with a diversity of plantings that drift in and out of each other and with the seasons; this provides camouflage from predators, nesting materials, and a variety of nourishment all year. Weeds fit into this landscape and help build the microorganisms and structure or armature in the soil. This less structured planting design is balanced with a classical symmetrical layout. Symbiosis is designed to build the food chain. The maintenance required is easily accomplished with handheld clippers. The clippings are put back into the garden to decompose by insects and natural systems that build the soil health and retain water and carbon, or into a vase to be enjoyed. Ultimately Lawndale benefits economically through lower maintenance, chemical inputs, and utility costs, while enjoying a toxin-free environment—living sculpture.

I use materials that support plants and wildlife specific to the site's ecological history. I begin with a water source, animal waste and decaying plant materials native to the area. These materials build habitat and nourishment for microorganisms in the soil, in the water feature and up the food chain to sustain each other in extreme Texas weather. When combined with our clay soil they: store carbon, cool and return water to the aquifer, support life beneficial to humans and keep harmful pests at bay. In addition, they assist in cleaning the air, slowing rainwater, and reducing land erosion.

For example, I have created symbiotic relationships between humans, mosquitos, dragonflies, fish, and chemical-free water. In a hot environment, animals need a freshwater source to drink and reproduce. I installed a small pond without a filter or pump. Using plants to filter the water, I utilize the eating and waste habits of the Texas Mosquitofish to control the algae and build the water's biology. Mosquitos and dragonflies are attracted to still water with a balance of healthy bacteria and algae to deposit their larvae. The larvae become protein for the fish. Attracted by the water source, the dragonflies hover above the garden and on dried plant materials hunting mosquitos, supporting human health. Lawndale benefits economically by not utilizing an electric pump, needing a mosquito misting machine or pesticides and enjoys the beauty of the water feature and a kinetic, ephemeral rainbow of dragonflies hovering and darting over the living sculpture.

In Symbiosis, as the lower food chains develop, it begins to regenerate life and recover what is lost. Perpetual, it is art for now and future generations. In a living sculpture, the ways to evaluate it are space, shape, line, color, texture and regeneration.

I submit below images and descriptions of symbiotic relationships, ephemeral parts of the installation from April 2021-April 2022.

Gulf fritillary caterpillar on a consumed passionflower vine Passiflora Incarnata.

Lady bug pupae on a mile a minute vine.

Dung loving birds nest fungus

Gulf Fritillary butterfly on rosin weed sunflower. It roots can extend 16’.

image by Nash Baker courtesy of Lawndale Art Center

Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) on Monarda citriodora lemon beebalm image by Nash Baker courtesy of Lawndale Art Center.

Gulf fritillary butterfly on Gulf verain Verbena xutha image by Nash Baker courtesy of Lawndale Art Center

Battus philenor a pipevine swallowtail

Gulf fritillary on Rudkeckia hirta

Long-tailed skipper Urbanus proteus on Salvia azure

Junonia coenia the common buckeye butterfly on a blanket flower Gaillardia puchella with dew drops.

Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) on scarlet sage Salvia coccinea.

Gulf Fritillary butterfly on purple cone flower

Red arrow Rhodothemis lieftincki on dead olive tree limb.

Mosquito control and water source for winged species.

Past bushy blue stem and Seaside Golden rod. I leave them through March so the winds can spread their seeds to other gardens, and to provide shelter for birds, tree frogs, toads, and field mice.

Plathemis Whitetail Skimmer

Mosquito control and water source for winged species.

Past bushy blue stem and Seaside Golden rod. I leave them through March so the winds can spread their seeds to other gardens, and to provide shelter for birds, tree frogs, toads, and field mice.

White skipper and blanket flower

Brown skipper and Rudbeckia hirta

water + air + citizens - the actual event

14” X 6” X 6”

Found objects — a glass jar and cork lid, shale, charcoal, mesh, distilled water, Springtails, a Monarch carcass, living soil, Horseherb (Calyptocarpus vialis), Bigfoot Waterclover Marsilea macropoda, two chrysalides, two oyster shells, decaying bee balm bloom and a bird skeleton.

water + air + citizen

I documented the event by having the participants take a small step as a community to build a healthy functioning ecosystem collectively. Earth's water system is a closed water system. Although we can make soil, we cannot make more water.

Before the discussions began as a symbolic gesture, each person added an element to provide the future with a water system to sustain life on Earth. The objects in the documentation are found objects — a glass jar and cork lid, shale, charcoal, mesh, distilled water, springtails to eat the fungus, and a Monarch carcass to envision the future. Sourced from Symbiosis, the piece includes living soil, Horseherb (Calyptocarpus vialis), Bigfoot Waterclover Marsilea macropoda, two chrysalides, two oyster shells, decaying plant matter and a bird skeleton.

After the event, I added elements present in urban earthly healthy ecosystems; the bird skeleton I found in Symbiosis last spring, two chrysalides vacated by butterflies and left on Lawndale's fence, a dried lemon bee balm bloom, and lastly, a past Monarch butterfly. Monarchs were not witnessed in Symbiosis' first year. I found this Monarch on the sidewalk of my neighborhood. To recover endangered species, we must envision them in our terrain, provide habitat and plants that give them nectar. I placed the terrarium on two broken concrete pavers. As an urban community, we took the first step we successfully built an ecosystem where our actions support natural systems that temper weather and provide clean water and air.

In 2021 I proposed to Lawndale a social Sculpture that addresses the three ways humans intersect soil in Houston. The way we treat our soil impacts two ingredients necessary to sustain life on Earth, water and air.

Public policy, Design industry, and Art activism.

Water + Air + Citizens is a discussion that looks at three ways Houstonians (humanity) impact these natural systems through urban landscapes.

Medians, yards, gardens, lots, parks, blocks are all surfaces of Earth. But, by any name, the skin of our planet purifies its water and regulates its atmosphere.

As the event grew close, I began to see a bigger picture, another layer to the work. In my sculpture practice, this is a common occurrence. In this case, I became aware that the title I chose for the sculpture is three of the most potent elements in weather. First, with water, we have floods and hurricanes. We are hit with hurricanes, tornadoes, and dust bowls in the air. Finally, citizens' power of public opinion is a tremendous force and often overcomes the common sense of individuals and leaders.

Symbiosis - Pollack

When I study the areas of the work that visibly support the most wildlife in Symbiosis I often think of the the most notable works of Pollock. I am presently reading The Extended Mind by A.M. Paul. In the chapter on thinking in natural spaces she wrote. - “Nature changed Pollocks thinking - gently tempering his raging in-tensity- and it also changed his art. In New York, Pollock worked at an easel, painting intricate, involved designs. In Springs, where he worked in a converted barn full of light and views of nature, he began spreading his canvases on the floor and pouring or flinging paint from above. Art critics view this period of Pollocks life as the high point of his career, the years when he produced "drip painting" masterpieces like Shimmering Substance (1946) and Autumn Rhythm” the extended Mind by A.M. Paul. I often see Pollockness in “Symbiosis”. This images especially reminds me of his Autumn Rhythm. In “symbiosis” it is winter shelter. This scarlet sage was damaged after the freeze.

Symbiosis - dead plants

The February freeze left its mark in the garden. Above ground, the Scarlet salvia, Salvia coccinea, was left in the form of crispy brown twigs and leaves. Below ground, the roots were protected by the moisture and living organisms in the soil. The beauty of a perennial is the roots are weather tough and will sprout new life this spring. 

In our present culture, these dead limbs would be removed from the site immediately. They remove these dead plants when the weather is still harsh, leaving the ground bare the life that lives in and on it vulnerable. In  Symbiosis, these bronze arched stems, and their bi-petaled crumpled leaves are sheltered from downpours, wind, and predators. I leave them. Their leaves and stems may not be a beautiful green, drawing energy from sunlight and water from the earth producing sugar to boost growth and oxygen released into the air. They absorb heat, warm, and protect the ground and living organisms. When March winds come, their seeds fly to new gardens and bare spots ground. When our weather warms, I will chop these dried elements to return to dust. They will become sustenance for bacteria, nematodes, fungi, and earthworms. In life and death, the plants are valuable in landscapes. 

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus — the next paddock and long term plan.

Cindee Travis Klement

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

Long Term Proposal - sponsorship and site selection

Sponsorship from the energy industry can mutually benefit from my long-term plan.

How can this work be valuable to the energy industry?

I read in the Houston Chronicle that oil firms wrestle with public image. And, I have read that these same companies are starting to look at agriculture to regenerate the planet and return carbon to our soil for future generations. So, sponsoring my carbons sequestering figurative sculpture can be a tool to build a positive public image, support the environment through educating the public with the natural history it represents, and support the arts and female artists.

What is my long-term vision for the piece?

I believe that we cannot fix our environmental issues if we as a society do not understand how our environment works. Therefore, I made Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus an educational, ecological work for now and for civilizations to come. My vision is to exhibit the work in a high-traffic location on Houston's Buffalo Bayou with the Energy city skyline behind it. The tension of the great bison created out of the indigenous earth and organic material placed against the glass skyline of the energy city will permanently record this endangered knowledge to the citizens and visitors of the coastal prairies collective memory. It will plant the seeds to holistically balance the needs of humanity and wildlife in urban landscapes. I will be a reminder of our collective responsibility of sequestering carbon, soaking up rainwater, and cooling the planet, extending our time on the earth. For the piece to stand the weather, it will be cast in bronze.

How can this sculpture be valuable to the Buffalo Bayou Partnership and the city of Houston?

In the early 2000s, I chaired my daughter's high school environmental social service project. I organized a clean-up on Buffalo bayou for the 16-year-olds. We were pretty new to Houston, and I was curious about Buffalo Bayou's name. After some research, I learned the last bison herd was seen just after the Alamo. A few years later, I discovered the connection between grazing herds, soil health, food production, sequestering carbon, and soaking up rainwater. All these things are crucial to human existence, yet it is unknown by most of the population. Buffalo Bayou is Houston's most significant natural resource, a natural landmark. It is the site my environmental sculpture can have the most important environmental impact. Below is an image of the site I envision for the piece.

What will it cost?

Over the last eight years, I have built a relationship with Legacy Fine Arts Foundry, a minority woman-owned foundry. We have worked out a process to direct cast organic material into bronze. I can show you samples in my studio. The work will not look like a bronze monument it will be a work of art. The process is similar to that of Joe Havel and Linda Ridgeway but adapted to my organic materials. This piece will take the process of direct casting to a whole new level. I project the project will come in between $150,000 - $260,000. That would include a production cost of roughly $100,000., transportation, engineering fees, site preparation, lighting, installation, insurance, artist, consultant fees, etc. Much of the cost is dependent on the site.

The image above is the type of skyline I envision in the background of the proposed installation.  The old male bison would be grazing on low-growing native prairie grasses. A few feet behind him, visitors would see cast bronze dung, mushrooms, birds, and dung beetles. The work would not need the granite pedestal as pictured. There are also some suitable sites on Memorial.