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

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus #15

Another day of building the bone structure of the face. The armature is more detailed than the sculpture will be. As I work I remind myself that the armature just needs to support the masses of dried mud and dried grass. It will not be visible under the herbaceous skin. I can’t seem to stop myself. I think it make me feel closer, more connect to the bison.

It also keeps me away from the news- COVID 19.

Today I worked on the lower part of it's cheekbones and then I added a rear jawbone.

Looking up the mouth and nose of head minus the lower jaw.

The old guys face left side

Looking through the skull

The right profile.

On the Road to Roam

January 19, 2020

We are on the road to Roam, and I am feeling a little concerned. I believe that we as a society are not connected to the raising/producing, culling, and processing of our food. With this disconnect, what is essential has been lost. This not only impacts our health but also our environment (including the bees) that we are borrowing from future generations. It is easy to be judgmental and to point fingers. If I am going to judge our current food production system, I need to experience the process that I believe is a healthy and responsible alternative. I need to be willing not only to talk the talk but walk the walk. Thursday, Curtis, and worked Roam’s Bison Roundup. We were nicknamed the gatekeepers. One female, after careful and thoughtful analysis, was selected to be culled today. This is not going to be easy, but I will be a better human from the experience......... on the road to Roam.

Opening the car door the last thing I hear on the radio is, ”everything is dust in the wind, ” for one second I find comfort in these words.

The ranch Anatolian livestock guard dogs greet us at the ranch entrance.

The herd including the cow to be culled having a relaxing morning grazing on Texas prairie grasses. The cow in question will not be separated from the herd, she will not be stressed and will not feel any pain. This is how you humanely harvest an animal. This is not how industrial Agriculture harvests meat.

That explained it is a heavy feeling knowing that a life is being sacrificed. Being aware of what is being lost in order to put a high quality protein on the table makes every ounce of meat more valuable. Nothing should be wasted. The experience changes how we value animal protein.

I participated for two reasons; personal growth through awareness and a deeper knowledge for a body of work whose concept I am working on called Giving the Bird.

One wish- just one

One wish- if you were selected to make a wish just one and you are the only living creature in the universe that gets this opportunity, what would you wish? I would wish that all humankind would protect and heal our soil.

Can one one wish ripple into social change? Can all of our social unrest and grievances be connected to the health of our soil?

The below tedtalk has me thinking.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ted-talks-daily/id160904630?i=1000405307942

A new Inspiration for work.

”

Endangered Knowledge: Soul of Humus #17

I started the lower jaw today. I spent the majority of the day researching the structure of the lower jaw and its movement as the bison chew.

Here is a collection of my reference material.

Bison grab a tuft of grass with their tongue, then they pinch it off by pressing it between their tongue and their front lower teeth. They do not have top front teeth. They then swallow it whole. That is the beginning of a 24-hour digestive process.

I love this image, I took it last January at Roam Ranch right before the roundup. I think this is the one they call Poppy. Poppy is very curious and friendly. She is checking me out as she catches rain drops on her tongue.

You can see the lower jaw through the upper jaw here. It is slightly off to the right of the bison. I want him chewing away and want to exaggerate the movement. I will probably bend it a little more askew this weekend.

Here the chewing lower jaw is more obvious.

View from the rear or top down.

Friday, I am committing to writing the Lawndale proposal- rewriting and rewriting and rewriting.

Inspiration

I am committed to walking 10,00-15,000 steps every day. During my walks, I listen to audiobooks or podcasts on subjects that interest me. A lot of them have to do with regenerative agriculture, the history of soil, native bees, and various Environmental issues. Often I switch it up and learn about something completely new to me. The information or music I absorb during my walks is a big influence on my work.

Below is a quicky Ted Talk that I was very excited to hear today. It supports my belief that environmental change has got to come from our people in our cities.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ted-talks-daily/id160904630?i=1000485487124

I sent the link to city councilwoman Sally Alcorn and her assistant Hannah. Who knows. Like the piet said- make sure your reach Exceeds your grasp.

I took a screenshot of the description. It feels good to hear other people who believe what I believe.

Faux bois Wedding gift ❤️❤️#17

I needed to make some new concrete sculpting tools. I cut the bristles from a dog brush and glued them to the handle from a sponge 🤞

The small bronze root left a stain on the seat. Oops. I expect I can grind it out.

Work work work

COVID 19 quarantine stitching - orchid bee

If there is an interesting bee it is the orchid bee on many levels. I previously wrote a blog post regarding how orchids trick orchid bees with sex in order to get pollinated. There are endless articles about the interesting habits of orchid bees. They are also one of the most beautiful bees and come in a multitude of gorgeous colors. They are one of the jewels of the bee family.

A fellow Houston artist Jo Ann Fleishhauer recently opened Disquieted Beauty in the Old Jail Art Center this past spring. I was not able to see the exhibit due to Covid. However, the exhibit will open in Houston at Rudolph Blume this fall. In brief the exhibit looks at modes of communication used by the natural world, primarily the orchid bee. The orchid bee uses perfumes from orchids and other living organisms to attract females. Jo Ann’s artistic, complex, layered interpretation of communication is preeminent. You will not want to miss Jo Ann’s Disquieted Beauty when it comes to Houston.

One of the distinguishing characteristic of an orchid bee is their tongue. They have evolved to have a tongue that is twice as long as their body. I stiched a blue and green with beige and brown wings orchid bee in flight with it's tongue physically extended to an abstract orchid.

In the natural world, you have to study a habitat to find the minuscule creatures; the same is true with my stitching.

The orchid bee is top left with the super long, whitish tongue.

I was looking forward to making a large watercolor Monoprint of the orchid bee, to add to my Rumblings body of work. Unfortunately, due to COVID 19 I no longer have access to a press. For now Rumbling monoprints are temporarily on hold but I can still stitch as many bees as I like. I am working on some other pieces that are very important to me and I love getting in my pond and photographing its life.

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus #14

I am getting close to finishing the head and upper jaw. The next step will be to create the lower jaw, then I will put the head aside and start building up the piece from the hooves.

More work on the cheekbones and connecting the horns to the eyes.

Side view of armature

Bottom side view

Bison's left side view

Back of head looking down

For the full story see Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus #1a

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus #16

for the full story see Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus - #7 cowbirds

As I work on the hooves, it has occurred to me that maybe the cowbirds should be bronze.

5 cowbirds of seeds, grass and wax just in case. Off to the foundry. I will have Legacy Fine Art Foundry cast these.

for the full story see Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus #13

View l from the mouth

The cheekbones are added.

For the full story see Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus #12

My favorite measuring tool when building the armature is a sewing tape measure.

For the full story see Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus - #11 head

The head is a lot of detail work. Bending small pieces of steel takes time and strength. It is easy to bend large pieces of steel because I can use leverage to bend it. Small parts are too short To get much lecerage. This is the first time in my life strength is an issue., I have not been doing my regular weight lifting due to COVID 19 quarantine. So I have to think of creative ways to make the shapes I need. It takes longer to figure out.

Examining this work I have decided I need to raise the left horn.

I have only welded the horn in one location. This will make it easier to correctly position the horn once the head is connected to the body. I can find them if I want, or I can cut the one weld and resend them in the correct position.

I moved the horn and added the front of the upper jaw.

I added the back of the upper jaw and two pieces to stabilize the head. The stabilizing pieces run through the center of the head, the length of the face to the back If the skull. I used the angle grinder to separate the front and left sides of the front jaw separating the two stabilizing pieces. This will make it easier to make any adjustments in the head structure when it is finished and attached to the body.

The skin and coat of the finished piece is the most crucial part if this piece. This steel armature is purely structural.

For the full story see Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus - #10 head

I have cut the steel for two sets of horns, the center of the face, top of the scull and part of the nisee. .

Working on the horns

This bison skull was a Christmas present. From Griffin and Alex my son and daughter in law. They have been unbelievably supportive of my environmental works. They are the best. The skull is proving extremely helpful in figuring out how to build the head armature.

For the Full story see Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus - #4 reference images.

When I start to build a new piece the first thing I do is gather and organize all the reference images and information I am going to need.

I staple all the images to a piece of cardboard. This way it us easy to see as I work. This secti n focuses on the hoofs. I am starting with the hoofs.

For the full story see Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus - #8 Hooves

One of the most critical problems to solve is the placement of the hooves. They will be welded to Steel plates that act as the base. The base serves several purposes; it will make it easier to transport the piece without damaging it, it will make working on a large piece safer and less likely to fall on me. I am going to use 4 - 14” X 14” 1/4” steele plates. One for each hoove. This will give me the flexibility to adjust the placement of the hooves as the piece develops.

I am sending the hooves to Blumenthal metal and having them weld the hooves to the plates. It is tricky welding to a thin plate and not warping the plate.

Why is this important to me? Please see Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

Lawndale Art Center - support image

It does not stand to reason that gardens or yards in Texas, Maryland, California, Iowa, and Illinois should all be landscaped with the same selection of plants. The below image from Native Texas Gardens says it all. In a country with great diversity from coast to coast, shouldn’t the sculpture garden landscapes be embedded in plants that define the place?

It will be more interesting to see sculptures in gardens of indigenous plants, plants that define the place, terrains that have attracted its people and impacted its economy. A sculpture of a boat marooned in a desert landscape might imply global warming and the same wooden vessel docked in a sea of woody pines congers up thoughts of concervation. one thing the same boat Sculpture changes across geography. What does sculpture look like in a coastal prairie sculpture garden?

Page xviv of Native Texas Gardens, maximum beauty, minimum upkeep by Sally and Andy Wasowski.

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus - #6 Hooves

I am spending a lot of time looking at and thinking about the bison's hoof. Bison are ungulates. Their two toed hooves are a cross between a spade and two chisels. With the weight of their massive bodies their hooves cut into the soil, churn it up, break clumps, and create pockets that hold moisture. They trample old vegetation into the ground a long with the 40 lbs of waste they create everyday. They have a two pronged tools on each leg that tills and cultivates 24/7. And then you put them in a herd and they are mother nature's industrial farmer.

Image from bob the bison used at epic food conferences

Image from under the shoot at the roundup

Image from the harvest

the back story Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus - #5 the welding begins

I am starting to design and build the armature (the support structure) of the piece. The structure will be supported with welded rebar and then covered in a steel lath to help hold the mud and dried native plants to the sculpture.

I begin with the hooves It takes a lot of muscle to bend a piece of rebar enough to make a complete hoof side, I will have to piece it.

I did not measure the circumference of a hoof but I do know the ankle is 12” and hoofs are bigger.

I think best in wire or a material I can shape by hand - by feel. I decided to wrestle up a wire sketch of a hoof to get me started.

The front part of a front hoof

Front hooves started