Sewing bee - stitch like nobody is watching

I am bad (or maybe it is a good thing) about hyper focusing on a subject. The subject of the moment is the plight of the bumble bee amidst the use of man made chemicals. Taking a break from my studio and catching up with my dearest friends. We had a beach based sewing 🐝.

Knowing my friends would not enjoy a beach weekend of me hyper focusing and preaching to them about how we need to do what we can to protect the bees intestinal flora from glysophate a sewing bee was a super fun solution. We stitched and caught up for hours on end breaking only to play canasta and sip a beverage or two. I see these ladies only once a year so there is a lot to catch up on.  My friends are all super supportive of my art and they are up on the latest problems for the bees intestinal flora. 

I provided pashmina scarves (in everyone’s favorite colors) and coordinating threads. We stitched cactus and bees that pollinate them. We are all from El Paso so cactus was a natural for us. 

Bag to keep our work in, (we all have bags from years past) embroidery thread, a few ball point sewing needles, tiny scissors, pencil or disappearing ink pen, embroidery hoops, and  images of bees and cactus. 

We were getting away from the pressures of everyday life so the idea was stitch like nobody is watching, no judging. No stitch is a bad stitch, and the beauty is in the imperfections. No one wants a scarf that looks machine made. 

Below are images of my pashmina bee/cactus scarf as the work progressed. I will let my friends post their own work and hopefully spread a little 🐝♥️ to their other friends. 

saguaro cactus

Prickly pear cactus 

ocotillo cactus 

yucca cactus 

mark making with thread 

barrel cactus 

this guy ended up rather large. 

scarf w stitching 

finished? I am not sure but the trip is. 

Looking at this photo I must give a tip for wearing a scarf and taking photos- pull scarf up around your neck - 🤪 aging is 👎🏻 On your neck but it comes with knowledge and that is 👍. 

If anyone would like to host a sewing bee and talk about ways to save the bees give me a shout. I am happy to send you images of bees to stitch and help out in anyway I can. 

Artspace111: 6th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition

 As an artist, I know how important it is to get your work into exhibitions. With the Texas art scene being extremely competitive, having work accepted into a beautifully juried exhibit is an honor and privilege to be appreciated. It also takes a fair amount of luck, time and it can be costly. That said I am extremely happy that I recently got lucky, “Portrait of My Cousin” was accepted into the regional Juried exhibition at Artspace 111 in Ft. Worth. The exhibit was Juried by Hilde Nelson, the Curatorial Assistant for Contemporary Art at the Dallas Museum of Art. When there is an exhibition I am interested in before I apply I always research the juror. Hilde sounds like a very interesting curator. Here is her description as described in the call.  “Her work primarily concerns contemporary art at the intersection of memory, belonging, and political visibility. She has contributed to publications and exhibitions for solo presentations of Günther Förg and Jonas Wood, as well as the recent exhibition America Will Be!: Surveying the Contemporary Landscape, an installation of the museum’s permanent contemporary collection.”

I hope to get to meet her. 

 PORTRAIT OF MY COUSIN

48” X 28” X 28”

steel, hydro stone, wire cloth, wire mesh, and baling wire

photo by Nash Baker

Portrait of My Cousin was inspired by a long exposure photograph of my cousin, Arkansas Symphony Concert Master Andrew Irvin, that captured time and movement as he played his violin. I applied the same concept of capturing time and movement in photography to abstract sculpture. The piece is physically very light and hangs from a piece of monofilament connected by a swivel from an acrylic hanger. With one light source the piece cast shadows onto the wall. The air movement in the room causes the sculpture to slowly turn changing the viewer’s perspective. The turning movement causes the 3D sculpture and 2D shadows to disappear into each other and reappear at a different perspective. This creates the abstraction of time, movement and sound energy as the Concert Master plays. The gentle movement can be as hypnotic as a beautifully executed sonata.

It is extremely generous of Artspace 111 to take the  time and trouble to host the Annual Juried regional exhibition.  :) 

Pollinators live in the ground

We all see bees, hornets, and wasps in nests, but most bees and many pollinators live in the ground. That is another reason that it just makes good sense to be very selective with what additives you put on your lawn, garden or crops. I had no idea bees lived in the ground until I started my Impact body of work. Yesterday on my walk I saw this wasp fluttering around in the grass. I hope the homeowner uses inputs that will not hurt the wasp intestinal flora. Wasps are also pollinators but they are not as effective as fuzzy bumble bees. 

Roots #6 adding the rebar

In regenerative agriculture roots are used as a tool to regenerate the soil as the plant grows.  

Below I have added the trunk, some vines and the handle of the tool. 

Here I added 1 more branch and now I think it looked better before I added it. 🤔  

 The lath is the next step. 

Glyphosate #14 (working title) kinetic sculpture - the falling

I made some major adjustments today to help communicate the fall/possible extinction of the bee. 

photographed with the shadows 

Photographed with the lights on, without the shadows.  

I also added a pile of dead bee and plant parts under the piece.  

The project: I am starting to rough out the artist statement. 

“Impact” is a new body of work composed of lenticulars, kinetic sculptures and sculptures. “Impact” forewarns the use of  pesticides such as Glyphosate have on the bee population. “The herbicide glyphosate is expected to be innocuous to animals, including bees, because it targets an enzyme only found in plants and microorganisms. However, bees rely on a specialized gut microbiota that benefits growth and provides defense against pathogens.” -  https://www.pnas.org/content/115/41/10305

The Rusty patch bee was added to the endangered species list a few months ago. 

  #bees #savethebees #womansculptor #womanartist #environmentalart Anyone need an environmental art installation?  #bee ##beesculptures #wirebees #wiresculpture #gesturesculpture #environmentalart #encironmentartist #womanartist #womansculptor #contemporaryart #contemporarysculpture #texasart #houstonart #abstractart #artinstallation #savethebees #environmentalartproposal

#artinstallationproposal #shadows #environmentalartinstallationproposal

#artproposals the ac was pumping today

Glyphosate #13 (working title) kinetic sculpture - bee or flower

I am pleased when an element in the sculpture is viewed as a bee from 1 direction and a floral element from another direction.  Below are images of 1 bee from several view points. Sometimes it is a bloom or blooms and sometimes it is a bee. What do you see?

#savethebees #helpmehelpyou

Glyphosate #12 (working title) kinetic sculpture -

Editing bee parts and adding botanical elements. 

Glyphosate #11 (working title) kinetic sculpture - adding more bees

Glyphosate #10 (working title) kinetic sculpture - another floral add

Glyphosate #9 (working title) kinetic sculpture - a look at the shadows

Glyphosate #8 (working title) kinetic sculpture - a better look at two bees

I edited them more after more pieces are added.  

I need to add some hydro stone pieces to the second wing. 

Here I am considering if he needs a second wing or not.  

Some news regarding seed killers-  

 https://www.courthousenews.com/jury-awards-couple-1-billion-in-roundup-cancer-case/

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 #6 (working title) kinetic sculpture - hydro stone

Regarding the title today I am loving “impact” as a title, I will discuss more on that in another post.

On this day I made abstract botanical inspired  shapes out of a variety of materials. Then I whipped up some hydro stone and put a coat on the largest shape. The next day I started arranging the pieces into a kinetic composition. 

botanical inspired small pieces. 

the large piece covered in hydro stone 

Above I am starting to connect the pieces.  

Glyphosate #5 (working title) kinetic sculpture - flower and 2 bees

I have not added the legs and wings to the 2nd bee. All the bees do not need legs and wings???????? 

When I add the hydro stone it will be easier to discriminate between the bees and the flowers.  

Below are two different compositions using the flower and the two bees. 

Glyphosate #4 (working title) kinetic sculpture - a flower

checking out shapes that hopefully read as floral. 

Regenerative agriculture and buying organic

The importance of where your food comes from. This article does a good job of explaining how your grocery shopping can trickle down and impact climate change.

 https://www.cornucopia.org/2019/04/organics-climate-change/

These photos are from the Buffalo Speedway and Westheimer Saturday Farmers market.  

Glyphosate (working title) kinetic sculpture #3 - another bee

I start with the eyes. I always start with the eyes from dogs, to my cousin Drew the concert master to bumble bees.

Regarding figurative abstract pieces-  If you can’t recognize the eyes then it is hard to read an abstract piece as a living creature. Reading the eyes is important. 

Checking the shadow with the fuzz and the clarity of the eyes. 

Adding the armature for the abdomen and tail and checking the shadow and the eyes. 

A a very fine mesh might be nice for the exoskeleton. Where are the eyes? 

another view 

Adding bee #1 just to see how they relate

I am hoping to be able to add some legs, wings

and dead flowers soon.  I am a little worried about the eyes. 

Glyphosate (working title) mobile #1 - new body of work.

This summer I will be focused on building a body of work that addresses the impact that pesticides have on the bumble bees and honey bees.

“Why conserve

rusty patched bumble bees?

As pollinators, rusty patched bumble bees contribute to our food security and the healthy functioning of our ecosystems. Bumble bees are keystone species in most ecosystems, necessary not only for native wildflower reproduction, but also for creating seeds and fruits that feed wildlife as diverse as songbirds and grizzly bears.

Bumble bees are among the most important pollinators of crops such as blueberries, cranberries, and clover and almost the only insect pollinators of tomatoes. Bumble bees are more effective pollinators than honey bees for some crops because of their ability to “buzz pollinate.” The economic value of pollination services provided by native insects (mostly bees) is estimated at $3 billion per year in the United States.”

 https://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/insects/rpbb/factsheetrpbb.html 

 Below is a still image  of a 4D/mobile piece I started last week.

A dead bee without legs and very big broken wings. 

Here is a photo of the shadow.  The sculpture is photobombing on the right. 

Glyphosate (working title) mobile #2 + legs

shadow and sculpture 

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 🐝