Osmia Illinoensis- mason bee

I selected Osmia Illinoensis to add to Rumblings when I read

Osmia Illinoensis is a mason wild bee. It is a stingless, solitary bee whose territory was from Illinois to Texas. Over 25% of the 139 native mason bee species in North America are at risk; 14 have not been recorded for decades. There are two things you can do to help restore these tiny creatures that support the world's sustainable food production. Plant native plants 🌺 and grasses 🌾 while minimizing the use of pesticides 💦. Second buy local organic food and products 🥬🍅. buy local organic food and products 🥬🍅. buy local organic food and products 🥬🍅. buy local organic food and products 🥬🍅. buy local organic food and products 🥬🍅.

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Osmia Illinoensis
30” X 44” watercolor monotype.

Day two, #2 the ghost

I struggled with my technique capturing O. Illinoensis features, those tiny white hairs were impossible, the magnificent colors of the hard exoskeleton, all the while giving her life, movement and remembering to keep the watery effect that suggests the devastating impact chemicals are having on this tiny creature.

http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Osmia+illinoensis

Day 3 caran d’ ache monotype

The ghost

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.

Stitching a Sweat bee and incorporating time and movement

Another day of social distancing and not being able to get in my studio. Today's stitching, I added the first of several sweat bees. In reality, they are only about 1/4 ” long. They have beautiful metallic greens and blues. I am working to show more time and movement in my stitching.

I added a tiny sweat bee - he is moving fast and as a result blurry

First I cut some thread of the colors I want the bee to be.

Next I wad them up into a cocoon.

Then I untangle them into the shape of the movement of a bee.

Then I stitch them into the shape of the movement.

Bombus dahlbomii

Bombus Dahlbomii is #1. on my bee bucket list. It is about three times larger than the largest bumble in the US. B. Dahlbomii is 1.5” long, they are affectionately called "flying mice" or "a monstrous fluffy ginger beast." This fluff bomb is in serious buzz pollinator mode. They are the primary pollinator of a Chilean bellflower, the National flower of Chile. Native to Chile, this bright orange-ish red arthropod is one of the few bees that can see red. Birds pollinate most red flowers, but this reddish bee loves red bellflowers and Alstroemeria the Peruvian Lillies. The decline of the fluffy ginger beast populations started with the introduction of commercial bumblebees. In the end, the commercial bumblebees did not pollinate as effectively and spread disease. If you are in Patagonia, keep your eye out for this amazing creature.
scientific American has a great article about this unique bee.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/biggest-bumblebee-threatened/

These pieces are a part of an environmental abstract body of work - Rumblings. In the natural world a rumbling in the distance forewarns a forthcoming gale. Rumblings; a monumental collection of endangered wild bee portraits. The watercolor ink carefully manipulated on the monotypes to reflect the synergistic, aqueous effect of; the wild bee's magnetic attraction of golden dust, the movement of the Keystone species mission to cross pollinate, and their fragility due to the applied chemicals that flood industrial agriculture. With Rumblings there is knowledge and knowledge is power.

I have made 2 experimental monotypes of a Bombus Dahlbomii. I was experimenting with techniques to make him extra fuzzy. I went a bit crazy with the botany around the bee. These pieces feel experimental, or maybe I need to step back from them. As individual pieces they feel overworked to me- muddied and too much background- That said they may work when all 50 bees are exhibited as one piece. It is good to have options. When I get back in the print studio I will redo them in my normal style just to have on hand.

In quarantine during the coronavirus epidemic I do not have access to a large press. In lieu I am stitching bees and native plants on a jean jacket. Stitching keep my hands busy, is a meditation and really good fo mental health.

Bombus dahlbomii Thread on denim

Bombus dahlbomii I 30” X 44” watercolor monotypes

Bombus dahlbomii Il 30” X 44” watercolor monotypes

COVID 19

The last almost three weeks have been emotionally challenging for everyone. That said I am very fortunate that no one close to us is sick and for that I am very grateful. I do have friends who have very sick people in their family. It is hard to hear their pain. I tear up just thinking about how many people this second are worried about next breath. I am trying not to think of it- it is too painful.

I am trying to keep myself busy and stitching is very therapeutic. I am free stitching bee habitats onto a stained jean jacket and getting a lot of dog walks in. We lost our oldest male labrador Goose to kidney failure last week. He is missed. The timing was bad as he brought us a lot of joy.

The jean jacket

My sweet Goose watching me work in the yard a few years back.

Osmia Texana - the berry bee

Osmia Texana - The Berry Bee This frantic bee is about as big as a housefly. If you look at one with a macro lens you can see they are a beautiful metallic blue. The underside of their abdomen is a fuzzy pollen mop. These pollen magnets are the perfect shape to collect pollen from blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, melons, and veggies, to name a few. They are not picky pollinators.

A single Texana Bee frantically visits 20,000+ blossoms per day, whereas a honey bee visits 50-1000. They are not- aggressive and non-colonizing, solitary bees.

They emerge in the spring and have an average pollinating season of 6-8 weeks, after which they die. Their offspring will hibernate over the winter and emerge the following spring.

They are found on both the central and North American continent.

Watercolor monotype 44” X 30.”

The ghost

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?

SITE Gallery Houston

Behind and attached to the Silos at Sawyer Yards

The lobby of the SITE Gallery Houston with the mechanicals of the grain silo in place. Just the coolest

Green marks the spot

Embracing Bombus Affinis

I have decided to make a large monotype of the first bee in the US to be listed on the endangered species list. I was looking online for a photo that would accurately depict the Bombus Affinis. Searching, I came across the USGS site. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a science bureau within the US Department of the Interior. The USGS provides science about the natural hazards that threaten lives and livelihoods; the water, energy, minerals, and other natural resources we rely on; the health of our ecosystems and environment; and the impacts of climate and land-use change. It is a great resource. They have developed a Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Program. Part of the program is to develop identification tools for native bee species. Taking and collecting accurate and detailed photos of the native bees. The over 4,000 images are freely available for the public to use. Looking at these up close detailed photos I was amazed to see how beautiful these tiny beings are. Their beauty rivals that of any creature on the planet. I looked at bees for an hour, in awe at their stunning uniqueness. The opportunity to work from such close up photos is exciting. It will also be challenging, I normally work from bad photos. I like poor quality photos because I don’t want to get bogged down by the details. My work is about the physical or emotional energy. These photos are works of art already. I have in my head what I want my abstraction to look like. I am just not exactly sure I know how I am going to achieve it. Step one is to experiment with my process and technique and develop a mark making that captures the elegance, majesty and energy of these tiny busy beasts.

Below are the first four days of experimenting. It has been a struggle to loosen up and not get bogged down by the details. The last one I like the most, I was just making marks and not worrying about if it resembled Bombus Affinis. That works best for me.

Bombus Affinis I

30” X 44” watercolor monotype

Day 1-

When working in color, the ink looks much darker and muted on the plate than when printed on paper. My first impression of Bombus Affinis I was that the paint was too heavy, too bright just  too much all the way around. The ghost was too light. I want my Bombus to express the lightness, fragility and majesty  of the bee. 

Wing detail from Bombus Affinis I

Bombus Affinis I ghost

30” X 44” watercolor monotype

Day 2-

I like the big black brush strokes, the antennae, but I do not like that both wings have the same weight. I want the back wing to be in more motion and fainter. When I look back at the work from day one, I am feeling better about parts of it. I like the wings and the last sections of his abdomen. Below are some close up shots of the parts I like of both days’ experiments.

Bombus Affinis II 30” X 44” watercolor monotype

Day 2 antenna

Day 3 - layering the different processes. I am closer to what I want but I am not there yet.

Bombus Affinis III

A favorite moment in Bomus Affinis III

a tail, leg and two wings

Bombus Affinis III ghost

Bombus Affinis IV

Bombus Affinis V

Day 4

Below are some moments I especially like. Today anyway.

Finally I am loosening up. I want an image of the bee’s energy - I want the life, movement and energy of a fuzzy pollinator even if he is endangered. I do not want a drawing of a bee.

Top of Head and thorax

Mauvish/brown/black bee eye and thorax

The fuzzy tail and two delicate wings

My work space

Leftover ink in the trey- Inspiration for a bee wing.

Glyphosate #7 (working title) kinetic sculpture - adding some details

In order to help the large abstract shapes read as botanical or floral shapes I have added some smaller botanical shapes and vines. I think they help. 

hopefully this flower is abstracted enough but not too much. 

Here is another