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.  

March 3, 2013 - Woman Suffrage Procession -Inez Milholland- title of work update

Now that I have three pieces in my women’s movement body of work I have decide to alter the title and artist statement of this piece. 

March 3, 2013 - Woman Suffrage Procession -Inez Milholland

Riding aside historically represents oppression of women's rights. Suffragette Inez Milholland rode astride in the 1913 ride/march on Washington. Inez was not only protesting for the right to vote, own property, to sue, but also to ride astride.

This is my first piece of work that addresses the women’s movement. It first resonated with me purely from an aesthetic point of view, as I knew the aged leather would reproduce beautifully in bronze. What I did not realize, however, was that this sculpture would represent more than a stereotypical Texas western symbol. In my women’s movement body of art it represents the strength of Victorian women and the beginning of the women’s movement, the March 3, 1913 suffrage parade in Washington.

 For more information in the 1913 women’s movement see the links below. 

 https://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fimgs.6sqft.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F03%2F15104106%2FInez-Milholland-1913.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.6sqft.com%2Fbrownstones-and-ballot-boxes-the-fight-for-womens-suffrage-in-brooklyn%2F&docid=2ZnWV_e9x0g-OM&tbnid=YNNH9k49Fdl9wM%3A&vet=1&w=1024&h=726&hl=en-us&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim

 http://time.com/4391874/the-society-girl-who-became-a-martyr-for-womens-suffrage/

 https://goo.gl/images/bJeGyT

 http://www.lrgaf.org/articles/sidesaddles_and_suffragettes.htm

Sapling #7 - lath, 1st coat and second coat.

My daughter special requested this piece. She asked if I could make her a sapling. My response was I could try, but the pencil size steel limits how thin I can make the tree limbs. Long story short, the sapling grew old fast. After the first coat the sapling limbs we're no longer sapling thin.

Covered in lath

Keeping an eye on my mix

The first coat - the bronze leaves are covered in green plastic to protect them.

First, I paint on the bonding liquid.

The piece is now ready for coat number 2.

Coat number 2 ✅

Here is the image edited super light in order to show the texture.

More details

Detail of upper branches

A little more concrete need under the bird.

Detail of trunk

The lower trunk and base.

The abundance of knots is evidence that this tree is the host of many insects and good bacteria. Bees and other insects use trees for nesting and receive antiviral properties from the fungus and bacteria that grow on the tree.

Hurricane Harvey Project - confronted with humanity- Harvey Heroes - Solving installation problems

Have I done enough? Which should I edit? Include the cot, don’t include the cot???? How should I compose them as a group? 

Performance art - getting out of my comfort zone is playing with fire.

The Glade Arts Foundation had a Halloween event, for which they booked a local graffiti artist to create a piece during the event. At the last moment, he had a conflict. I was asked if I knew anyone that could fill in, I couldn’t find any takers They needed an artist to create art during the event that would be fitting of Halloween. I am a sucker for anyone in need and offered to come up with something. I wrestled with a few ideas that I thought would be fun to watch - ink bubbles or lemon juice and fire. I went with fire. When my son was 8 years old, we threw him a magician birthday party. I wrote the invitations with invisible ink, (lemon juice) with instructions to apply fire to the invitation to make the words appear like magic. With that experience over twenty years ago in mind, I showed up at the Glade Arts Foundation with my torch, lighter, graphite stick, charcoal, and stick of white pastel and jumped.
Below are the results that landed:

The portrait was the finale and about 48”wide. The others were my experimental play. I always try new materials on images I am familiar with. 

These were the prizes for the best costumes. The winners requested that I sign the front.

It was really fun to interact with the guest and to be a link in the human chain of life.  

Roots #4 building the Shell.

The handle for the tool  

The cup is cut off and I have lots of holes drilled in the sprues to blow out the organic matter.  

Hurricane Harvey Project - confronted with humanity #12- adding 1 light element

Art based on a natural disaster can weigh on one’s emotions. With that in mind, and the fact that I would like the viewer to have a positive inner feeling after looking at my work, I am playing with adding a shaking dog to the body of work. I want the dog to be generic so that everyone can see their dog in it and I would like the dog’s energy to leave the viewer with a smile.  

Below are my first attempts. I hope one works.  

Roots #2 rooting out the best concept

I have very strong views on the connection between agriculture and health. I prefer to only eat organic grass-fed beef. I prefer to not eat any gmo products and I feel best when only eating sprouted grains. I want to know where my food comes from and how it is produced. Agriculture has a huge impact on our personal health as well as on our environment. Roots play a large role in regenerative and sustainable agriculture. 

The first root - The root is fabulous all by it’s self. 

The trunk is not so fabulous. 

Off with the trunk- 

Failure #1- Experimenting with ideas- this idea emphasizes the important of roots in sustaining  life. - too obvious 

Failure #2- Another experiment- “burden”  I grabbed this marble sculpture I did a few years ago. I have always wanted to burden it with something on his back. 

I like the thought, I think it either needs more more more roots or a Sprout coming out of the root.  

The root would be bronze.  

Stay tuned to see how I will use the roots.  

Hurricane Harvey Project - confronted with humanity #9 - “They carried my wheel chair”

The heroes keep coming  

“that wheelchair was so heavy” 

Watercolor monotype  

“They Carrie my wheelchair”  

the ghost print 

Hurricane Harvey Project - confronted with humanity #8 “She would never leave him”

Una mas  

 “She would never leave him”

the ghost 

30” X 22”  

1 wire a kiss, tango, waltz, jitter bug, and the rumba.

Flipping around this broken scrap of pig wire and you get so many gestural images. 

kiss 

tango 

waltz

jitter bug 

rumba 

Cranes- through the window

A year ago, I made two works on paper; “Cranes Through the Window I and II”. The inspiration came when I stopped at a red light. Peering through the fogged and rain drenched car window, drops trickled down into tiny rivers, carving new landscapes in the glass. Beyond the miniature rivulets, dark and dusky clouds loomed in the shadows while others stood out in rays of hope. Through the puffs of gray, rooftops were stacked, and construction cranes delicately cross stitched in saffron and goldenrod garnished their capstones.

cranes through the window I 

30” X 22”  

cranes through the window II

30” X 22”

When asked if I had any cranescapes that were not monumental in size, I realized I had not posted these two pieces.

Hurricane Harvey Project - confronted with humanity #7 “those teenagers pushed our truck”

Another Heroes piece-

Those teenagers

30” X 22” water color monotype  

the ghost

When my worlds collide my heart sings.

Three things that I love are sculpture, dance and tennis. And if that is not enough, one of my sports heroes, after having her first baby, is in a tutu at the US Open tennis Tournament. My heart is singing and bubbling over.

     I may  have to make a bronze Serena in a found object tutu. It won’t be the first tutu I have ever made. 🤗   And it won’t be the first sculpture I have done that was inspired by Serena.    

 Below is a little back story on “the little Dance” 

“Edgar Degas created a sensation when he presented his Little Dancersculpture at the Impressionist exhibition in Paris in 1881. His intention was to portray a young girl who dreamed of having an “illustrious life” in ballet, but who also kept “her identity as a girl from the streets of Paris.”

The public, accustomed to sculptures that showcased idealized women in marble, was outraged that Degas’s work depicted such a common subject—a young dancer drawn from everyday life and whose attitude reflected nothing goddess-like or heroic. Moreover, instead of chiseling her nobly in marble, he had rendered her in beeswax and found objects. In the face of rampant public disapproval, Degas removed the sculpture from display and stored it in a closet, where it resided in anonymity for the next four decades until financier Paul Mellon acquired the original wax sculpture in 1956 and gifted it to the National Gallery of Art in 1985.” -

                                                  ByAmy Henderson

                                                     smithsonian.com 

                                                  November 4, 2014

Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/true-story-little-ballerina-who-influenced-degas-little-dancer-180953201/#6te5BSIJRy3wVyYX.99
Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv
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Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/true-story-little-ballerina-who-influenced-degas-little-dancer-180953201/#6te5BSIJRy3wVyYX.99
Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv
Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter

Roots- Thank you Soul Cycle

These two dead plants were in pots outside of Soul Cycle. The roots were exposed and beautiful. This summer every week I would ask the staff if I could have them for my art. Every week I received the same response, that they would have to get approval from the locations manager to remove the dead plants. They are mine now. 😊 thank you, everyone at Soul Cycle for not getting irritated with my constant persuit of these roots. 

My interest in roots has to do with my interest in regenerative agricultural. I will explain in the next roots blog post

Sapling #2

The welding is complete.  

Hurricane Harvey Project - confronted with humanity #7

A piece from a large series of work inspired by the everyday heroes of hurricane Harvey.

Who saved whom

the ghost 

Hurricane Harvey Project - confronted with humanity #4

A piece from a large series of work inspired by the everyday heroes of hurricane Harvey.  

He was wearing overalls

22” X 30”  

the ghost print 

What does sound look like?

Using the Schlieren Flow Visualization method of photography, scientists photograph sound vibrations (even with them moving at 761.2 miles per hour.) NPR does a beautiful job of explaining this complicated process that scientists use to see sound. See link below-

https://www.npr.org/2014/04/09/300563606/what-does-sound-look-like

It is amazing and inspiring to see photographs/videos of sound. With this additional visual inspiration and  conversations with art critic Laura Wellen and curator Kimberley Davenport, I have decided to create an installation in my new studio. 

I have moved my “score” (working title) sculpture to my new studio.

Everything else is in a temporary storage facility 

I will miss my dogs 😒

With some luck by the end of the summer  my new studio will be filled with a 4D installation of the voice of the violin. 

Faux bois Wedding gift ❤️❤️#1

January 3, 2018, our son Griffin married his soulmate, Alexandra Groome.

After the wedding at the Houston Arboretum.

As a wedding gift, Curtis and I gave them one of my early bronze sculptures “lovebirds”.

Bronze lovebirds welded to rebar.

The lovebirds are inspired by my grandparents Imogene Young Travis and Robert Francis Travis, (Granny Gene and Bob-pa). They were married in high school and remained married for 70 plus years. In their El Paso High School yearbook, their senior pictures faced each other and lovebirds were placed in the corners of each of their pictures.

photo of copies of the yearbook pages framed in my house.

The second part of the gift is to make them a faux bois bench for the love birds to sit on.

I am going to make each piece of the bench thinking about the two of them and the lessons I want to pass down from my grandparents and from my own marriage. It will be a reflection of the qualities of the love Griffin and Alex committed to each other that day on January 3rd, and will be a symbol of the characteristics needed to maintain a marriage for a lifetime. My plan is to have it completed by their first anniversary. 

Design Considerations: 
1. Griffin and Alex are both environmentalists, so I will recycle as much rebar from other projects as possible.

2. No marriage is ever perfectly balanced, so I will make the bench asymmetrical.

3. It will have arm rests for support - symbols of both of their families. 

4. When things don’t work out exactly as planned, I will keep an open mind and make the best of the situation. The beauty will be in the imperfections as is life.   

5. I will listen to their wedding playlist on Spotify as I work. 

6. Griffin and Alex are very playful. The piece will reflect the joy they embrace life with. 

I started on Thursday, June 15th. Griffin and Alex are both people-people. They are always reaching out to others and welcoming them into their home and world, they love to entertain. So I decided to make the seat of the bench the shape of open arms.

rebar welded into the shape of open arms that will eventually be the seat. 

Next I need to set the seat on jack’s the correct height for comfortable seating. Every couple needs a good support group. 

Marriage should be comfortable -  The front is slightly higher than the back for comfort. 

 equality - I use a level to make sure the seat is level from side to side.  

Grinding the tip of a piece of rebar cut for a leg. 

With small taps I use a sledgehammer to make a gentle curve to a leg.

Next is to creat the armrest and back of the bench. 

Four legs and two arm rest are welded to the seat.

Griffin and Alex are very fun loving and not inhibited at all to have a good time. The vines/branches that make up the back will embrace this side of them. 

A little sketch of the armature and how it will look with concrete on it so far. 

I might need to prune the crazy branch on the left side.