what we think we become

I started this piece 1 1/2 years ago but neglected to have it photographed until this week. Seeing it through the photographer’s eye, it has an additional layer of meaning in 8/2020.

Originally it was a maquette for a memorial piece. We ended up going a different path for the memoriam. Personally I was happy this piece emerged from the event and cast it in bronze. It resonates with me because years ago I became fascinated, completely sucked in by modern neurology. Neurology was my obsession. I read everything a Mom could get her hands on. My favorite was Phantoms in the Brain by V. S. Ramachandran. The brain is amazing and especially since neurologists have learned that it is plastic and is changed with everything you do, everything you tell yourself or others tell you changes your brain. This knowledge is what gives every human a chance for hope. Dreaming is the first step, and self-talk is hugely important. You can control how you see the world, and how you see yourself, “fake it until you make it works“. What you think you will become”.

The additional layer - living through a pandemic is choosing how one reacts to stressful and depressing situations. Humans choose how we react and how we see. “what you think you will become”. The texture of the piece is composed of repetitive arched lines, they are mirrored in the profiles/contours of the work. It is an abstract sculpture but I clearly read “what we think we become”. What we look for we will find, 8/2020 is a good time to control your thoughts and look for the light. If you look for it you will find it.

“what you think you become”

bronze

12” X 4” X 3”

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

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.

Faux bois Wedding gift ❤️❤️#20

The hard work is done. I did a little sanding on the seat so it won’t snag anyone clothes and then I was able to get some help moving it to a place where I can stand back and look at the work.

Front and reflection in the pond

Back view

Bronze

Lovebirds back

Left side view

Left back leg

Back right leg

Another view of the back right legs

Back right view of right legs

Back branch

Back left where back branches and legs connect

Front right legs - I love their hug

the seat texture

A piece of metal that was in my Dad’s ashes and his last name - Travis carved to the right of the metal bolt. I am guessing it is from one of his four hip replacements.

Griffin and Alex after their vows. - the lovebirds January 3, 2018

They will be in Houston for two weeks for Sage and Cameron Cuenods legal wedding vows June 12, 2020.

I Am looking forward to showing it to them. And I would like their opinion regarding a stain/patina.

Faux bois Wedding gift ❤️❤️#18

It turns out I did the first finish coat in white concrete. I have decided to put another coat on in the great concrete.

Here you can see the difference between the white and the grey Portland concrete.

I also have a repair to make on a back leg.

Repair made

The new underside top coat with personalization note for The newly weds.

The year the married 1/3/2018 and there names griffin Joseph Klement and Alexandra Marie Groome Klement

With love from me- Mom -cindee Travis Klement and Curtis Joseph Klement

The inspiration is from my grandparents yearbook page so I added my maiden name to the left of my name. I put the Klement last name between both sets of names.

Adding a stump to this root. I am on the fence on this.

Bob the bison

Have you ever asked a Houstonian- “ why do you think Buffalo Bayou, is named Buffalo Bayou?” The aswer I get 100% of the time is - I don’t know.............. 😞 Right after they mumble “I don’t know?” you can hear the sound of a quiet cracking as my heart breaks. It is heart breaking that living in urban environments we have become disconnected to animals and nature. Thanks to EPIC bar last week I took another step in the direction that will reconnect urban populations to one of the most important natural processes on the planet. I would also like to thank Bob the Bison.

A landscape

Lumps

Copy of SITE Gallery- Sculpture Month Houston - Installing the work#2

Things are now going smoothly maybe too smoothly. All the work I did this summer is paying off.

 

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- 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.

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

Sculpture Month Houston

In May I started seeking a space to exhibit new environmental, 4D kinetic sculptures. I hoped to use this new work as a start to an art installation inspiring conversations about topics I am very passionate about; the unexpected consequences of forcing natural processes into an industrial model and the complex relationships between humans, plants, and animals. 

The stars aligned in July when Sculpture Month Houston’s founder and curator, Volker Eisele, invited me to be one of the 19 artists asked to create a site-specific sculpture in the historic Success Rice Grain Silos behind the Sawyer yard’s artist studios. In the 50th anniversary year of man landing on the moon, this year’s exhibit title is Outta Space from the 2012 Van Halen album A Different Kind of Truth. Outta Space will combine two curatorial themes: one features work focused on environmental degradation issues and the other focuses on interpretations and explorations of Alternative Worlds as envisioned in the fantasies of the artists. 

I have passionately committed myself to this installation every day since July. My passion comes from spending my early years on a farm in west Texas, from my concerns regarding industrialized food and its effect on our health, from my love for historic buildings and, most importantly, from my desire to make an impact on the return of our most important keystone species. 

As a site specific installation artist my aspiration is to create a piece that is unique to the silo’s space and true to my work. My silo is a circular space constructed from cinder blocks, 18’ in diameter and spans 20’ in height. It has, in the center of the space a 10’ tall funnel suspended from the ceiling. There are a few old, large light fixtures, conduit runs vertical and perpendicular on the walls and there are three entrances to the space. I have three weeks to install the work that I have assembled to date. My mantra as an artist is “if I am not nervous to take on a new project then I am not stretching myself”. I am slightly anxious, yet happy to embrace the butterflies and honored to have my name listed among this year’s SMH artists.

In celebration of the opening there will be food trucks, a bar and music provided by Chapel In The Sky with projections by Michael Walrond - SHDWSOFDUST. 

OUTTA SPACE

Public Opening for the Exhibition 

Saturday, October 12, 6-9 pm

SITE Gallery Houston, 

1502 Sawyer St. Houston, TX 77007, 

(The multi-story building behind the artist studios facility).

https://glasstire.com/2016/11/04/the-problems-and-rewards-of-houstons-silos/

https://glasstire.com/2017/10/30/a-conversation-about-art-and-the-silos-on-sawyer/

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

Bee school birthday gift.

For my 62nd birthday, my son Griffin and daughter-in-law Alex gave me bee school for two at Beeweavers outside of College Station. Below are some photos from the day.

When we got out of the car, immediately we noticed a lovely white noise–the hum of busy bees filled the warm, summer air. I love that sound.

This is Roosevelt (or as Roosevelt would say, it is what is left of Roosevelt). He has been at BeeWeavers since he was 22 years old. Roosevelt is our teacher, guide and bee guru for the day.

You need to wear long sleeves, loose jeans, and closed-toe shoes. They provide the bee nets/hats and jackets. We are posing in front of some bee boxes and trying to let you see the smoke can behind us. Roosevelt really wanted the smoke to show in the picture. You can’t see the smoke.

When you arrive one of the first things you see is this sweet bee bath. I have never noticed bees bathing and drinking water before.

A close up of the bees in the bee bath floating on corks.

Selfie time

These are the boxes they use to show the public. I think they have thousands out and about nearby fields.

Roosevelt is smoking the honey bee boxes before we take a look Inside.. The smoke calms them down.

The bees were not aggressive.

Bees on the outside of the box.

The bees carry on with their work as we inspect the first frame.

The bees secrete a brown wax from their abdomens to close the cells. The yellow in some sells is pollen and the tiny white spec is a larvae. It is all very fascinating. Some cells are empty.

The yellow bag on this bees leg is pollen he has brought back to the hive.the pollen sticks to the long hairs on their legs.

Here is a guy with 2 packs of pollen.

This frame is used to raise queens. They sell 500 queens a day.

A close up of the wax cells the queens are incubated in.

When the queen is ready to mate she is put in a boxe like these. She flies out to mate and returns to the box she came from. Beeweavers queens are not artificially inseminated. I was really glad to hear that.

If you are starting your own honeybee farm you can purchase bees instead or robbing a hive. They will arrive in a box like this. I personally prefer to support local bees.

They put in the bee boxes a piece of cotton like this. The bees do not like it and they try to get it out. Their efforts fluff up the cotton and beetles get trapped in it. It is a great way to get rid of pest without pesticides.

Here is a piece of the cotton and a few trapped beetles.

Here is Roosevelt when he first joined Beeweavers. He Was a great guide and teacher.

This calf was found alone on their farm, they took him in, bottle fed him and named him buzz. I am not sure if he thinks he is a bee or people. He loves to be scratched, who doesn’t?

It was a great day despite the temperature. We learned a lot about honey bees. It was good to see a commercial bee establishment that cares about chemicals, pesticides and natural selection. A birthday gift I will remember for a long time.

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  

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.

Up-cycled

When shopping for my home, I love to go to flea markets and garage sales. I often buy broken things. A crack here there does not bother me. When I first started making #fauxbois furniture, I was always checking out concrete objects. I ended up with two concrete chickens; one was minus its head, and its tail feathers were damaged. Instead of throwing away the broken chick, I hung on to both - something about “like a chicken with its head cut off” was intriguing. That headless chicken hung around my garage for years, it made a good weight. When I started working in bronze, one of the first things I did was up-cycle the headless chicken with a new bronze head and tail. I sculpted the head and tail feathers in wax mixed with grits and grass. I made a mold of them, and then burned out the wax grass and grits and then cast them I bronze. I like the idea of giving new life to objects no one wants. I think these chicken could be seen as my first environmental pieces. They are not only upcycled chickens, but all birds also play a critical roll in nature. Fowl keep pests numbers in balance. All living organisms are connected.