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.

Sweat bees

I have had several people text me or Dm me to tell me about the bees they have seen this spring. That they are looking for bees during their Coronavirus afternoon walks. Some have was even said they would have killed the bees, except they knew I would not have been happy and that they need to protect the bees. It is so lovely to hear about these sightings. Thank you for the feedback- the role of an environmental activist artist can be frustrating at times. This feedback is inspiring. I love this native bee. Did you know this minuscule creature buzzing your native plants is a bee? I think it is a sweat bee part of the Halictidae family. There are 4,000 native bees and hard to identify. The Halictidae is the second largest family of Apoidea bees. Halictid species occur all over the world and are usually dark-colored and often metallic in appearance. With a macro lens, their colors are amazing. Several species are all or partly green, and a few are red; a number of them have yellow markings, especially the males, which commonly possess yellow faces, a pattern widespread among the various families of bees. (Source: Wikipedia, Halictidae, CC BY-SA 3.0) They are tough to photograph as they are swift and only about 1/4” - such a beautiful creature. Aren’t they cool.

Zoomed in

This gives you an idea how tiny these are.

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.

60 calves

A big shout out to @roamranch They are expecting 60 calves this coming spring. This past summer during my first visit to Roam I took this photo of the momma cow awkwardly nursing her bison calf. Watching the herd with the calves was a day I will always cherish. I have never shared this touching photo, I was saving it for something extraordinary. 60 cows with calves is pretty special. I could not be happier for Katy, Taylor, Julia, and Cody. I also want to thank them for sharing bison bob the @epicbar bison with me on Tuesday. Getting close up and learning about bison and their impact in regenerating overgrazed prairie has been a long-long time dream/goal of mine. Thanks to these good people and land stewards at Roam Ranch, things are falling in place to create a new body of art that looks at regeneration agriculture. #environmentalart #bison #bioart #gass #calves #sequestercarbon #mothers #ilovebison

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

Let it Bee

30” X 44” Lenticular in In the words of Paul Mc Cartney and the Beatles in “Let it Be” I think of Mother Mary as mother nature. Some day I would like to have a children’s choir sing “Let it Be” with my shadow piece,” World of Hum.”. But for now it is Spotify and a lenticular in my studio.

SITE Gallery- Sculpture Month Houston - Installing the work

This summer, I made 7 sections of kinetic sculptures, approximately 6’-10’ long X 36” in diameter, anticipating that I would not use all of them. Now that I am in the space and see what the light does on the convex wall, I think I will use 4 of my favorite sections and add 4 extra lines dropped for smaller pieces that will help integrate the 4 sections into one piece.

Experimenting with the placement of the light.

Experimenting with the shadows with the light in a convex wall.

The walls are not "museum pristine", they show their age, I am not bothered, it is a grain silo and I ❤️ It.

Packing the hanging pieces for transporting to the silos.

Last week I spent everyday packing and boxing the pieces I made this summer. I needed boxes they could hang in. Regular wardrobe boxes are not wide enough, so I made my own wardrobe style boxes to transport the sculpture pieces. I took two 30” X 30” X 30” boxes, stacked them and taped them to make them 78” tall.

Then I wrapped each element of each piece in thin plastic dry cleaning bags and kitchen zip lock bags. I don’t want any thing getting tangled. Each little section is in its own plastic cocoon.

Each small element bagged separately making bouquet of bee cocoons

Making my own wardrobe style boxes.

My pieces hang from the top of the boxes. I needed something to support the top of the box. Southland hardware yard sticks were the cheapest thing I could find. I think they will work.

My sculpture wardrobe boxes have doors.

The pieces in bags make awesome amnion shadows

7 boxes ready to go.

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.

The honey bee is (as American as apple pie) not a native bee in the US.

Like apples, honey bees were introduced to North America in the 17th Century by the European settlers. Prior to the arrival of the European settler’s honey bee, native insects and bees handled the task of pollination in the new world. In the early 1600´s, the honey bee was brought to North America for honey production and beekeeping became a commercial and profitable occupation.

My next post will be honey bees vs native bees. #savethenativebees

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

Five eyes

Bees have five eyes. They have three small ocelli eyes on the top of their head, they are simple lenses that discern light intensity. They also have two very large compound eyes that contains about 6,900 facets on the sides of their head. I thought the below monoprint of Bombus Affinis (Rusty Patch) bumblebee did a good job of showing the facets.

Bombus Affinis II compound eye detail.

Bombus Affinis - looking back and comparing

I ran into the print making room to drop off some new paper. I took the opportunity to see how the last 6 compared to each other and how multiple bees might look together. I will do one more experiment and the plan the grouping.

I am really liking these 6 today. I don’t think they are your typical rendering of a bee. Any thoughts? I am glad I took the time to look at these as a group. They are inspiring me to make several different bees from different views in this same technique and showing them together. I am getting some interesting ideas of how to do it.

i will do one more experiment first.  

Technique experiment for endangered bees.

Bee technique experiment

Bombus Affinis - listed on the Endangered list 2017

Detail of head with a big white eye, thorax antenna and leg

Th ghost of Bombus Affinis

One is to heavy and ones too light. That is how they look to me wet. It is too soon to judge.

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  

Glyphosate lenticular- trying to get it right

 I printed a lenticular from my three mono-prints of a dead bee. I decided to loop the images. That was a mistake when it comes to creating imagery that speaks to extinction. There is no loop and no second chance. With that in mind, I am trying for proof #2 with out a loop of image number 2.

I think this will work 🐝 

Hurricane Harvey Heroes- LIVEstock- “bringing home the bacon” The inspiration?

He is one big pig, the beloved family pet that had to be hoisted upstairs to save him from drowning in the flood waters of Harvey. The idea of saving a pig was inspired by a YouTube video posted by a young family in Conroe, Texas. I hope you see in the figure not only the strength it takes to lift up a frightened squirming pig but also the determination that the figure has not to let the family’s favorite pet parish. The pig twist and turns  while straining his back legs straight out trying to reach the ground. 

photo by Nash Baker 

Bringing home the bacon

66” X 42” 60”

Steel, stainless steel lath, plaster, hydro stone, wire mesh, screen and cloth, and baling wire. 

the next pig post -  why a pig?

Hurricane Harvey - sculpture day 5 “bringing home the bacon”

Today I spent a lot of time cutting off and rewelding. The upper leg/booty was too big. After four hours  it now has a trimmer. 

I am trying to decide if I need to reinforce the lower half of the body or move on. Once I reinforce the joints it is a lot more difficult to make changes. If I move on without reinforcing the welding joints, the piece could fall apart. That is my dilemma. 

Harvey Heroes- LIVEstock - “bringing home the bacon”

​I stared a new section in my Hurricane Harvey series of Harvey Heroes. These will all be LIVEstock rescues.

I made the first one today,

 “Bring home the bacon.”

44” X 30” watercolor monotype  

This is my first large monotype.
I have always wanted to go larger, but the temporary location of the Glassell School of Art did not have a big press. The pieces in this part of the series will all be 44” X 30” The Glassell printmaking studio has fabulous light, is super clean, and I love working in it. Alexander Squier, the head of the department and instructor makes sure everyone keeps it spick and span. This is the fourth time I have taken the class, print making is addicting and you need a press to feed your addiction. Plus Alexander is great.

Here is the ghost print. Something happened to the ghost. I am not sure what caused the mark that runs through the middle. When it dries I will try to fix it.  

Before fixing-

The ghost - “bringing home the bacon”  

Fixed  

My work space in the Glassell printmaking studio  

Me fake working for a photo op.