Armadillos and termites

Termites - to quote @gjklement,” termites are the ultimate grazers” last week, after we harvested our turkeys @roamranch, we went on a hike along the pastures to Indian Cave Creek. Along the way, we saw an abundance of armadillos eating termites. This trip was my 6th trip to the ranch and the first time to see any armadillos on the property, much less numerous armadillos or notice any termites. It is a sign the soil is regenerating - it is a good thing. Armadillos play an essential role in the Texas landscape both in agricultural settings and in urban population centers. They eat Termites keeping them in check. The termites are essential in building functioning ecosystems. As an art activist, I want to change the way we see nature. #regenerativeagriculture #regenerativeart #cindeeklementart #bioart #cobservationart #artactivist #texasartist #houstonartist #womansculptor #art #sculpture

Recording natural history - ”Mute Testimony”

Mute Testimony.3” X 6” X 4”bronzephot by Nash Baker

Mute Testimony.

3” X 6” X 4”

bronze

phot by Nash Baker

A fossil is our planet’s recorded history, the memoir of a life in a place, time, ecology, and evidence of global warming. It is Endangered Knowledge.

Many processes in art and the natural world lead to fossilization, including casting or mold making. I crafted a mold of a fossil that one of my children found at my son Griffin’s 8th birthday party in El Paso, Texas. It was a fossil hunting party at Cerro de Cristo Rey. (The intersection of two countries and three states, a special place.) A prehistoric relic, now a family treasure, I thought it would be meaningful to make a mold and cast it in bronze for each of my two children, a reminder of their childhood. A mold-of-a-mold a fossil-of-a-fossil. I found the redundancy poetic.

My son is now 31 years old. I have probably walked by the fossil once a day since Griffin was eight years old and did not think twice about it. Casting, it has forced me to think about the form and its value as an object of art. Evidence of aquatic life resurrected from the middle of the Chihuahuan desert— This poetic symbol of desertification will find meaningful ways to wander across disciplines into future environmental works.

Hearing, “this desert was once an ocean.” did not use to phase me. Thinking about the mineral remnant of a sea creature surfacing in one of the driest terrains in the US gives me pause; it makes me consider how we can live our urban lives and preserve natural systems.

I cast three additional fossils to share with others who are interested in natural history; two are finished in a natural patina and one in a contemporary finish — polished stainless steel.

Traces of ancient life tell story of early diversity in marine ecosystems

Stainless Steel finish changes everything 🤔 more to come

Stainless Steel finish changes everything 🤔 more to come

Sapling #9 to kindling - finish details

The finish can make or break a sculpture. I decided to lightly ground down the gritty textured surface on the concrete branches and polished the leaves. The highly detailed branches contrast with the simple almost primitive or crude Leaf-like forms. The leaves are smooth except any fingerprints and marks accidentally made by the process. The roughly made leaves have more energy and life than a realistically detailed leaf.

I made the leaves by pouring a thin sheet of wax and then tore leaf shapes out of the wax. Then I crumpled and twisted them Into fall leaves and cast them in bronze.

I made the leaves by pouring a thin sheet of wax and then tore leaf shapes out of the wax. Then I crumpled and twisted them Into fall leaves and cast them in bronze.

The little bird is also highly textured but in a more organized pattern.

The little bird is also highly textured but in a more organized pattern.

I have not made a decision on the stain of the concrete.

I have not made a decision on the stain of the concrete.

Another view

Another view

The base mimics dirt under the tree.

The base mimics dirt under the tree.

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

Covered in lath

Keeping an eye on my mix

Keeping an eye on my mix

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

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

First, I paint on the bonding liquid.

First, I paint on the bonding liquid.

The piece is now ready for coat number 2.

The piece is now ready for coat number 2.

Coat number 2 ✅

Coat number 2 ✅

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

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

More details

More details

Detail of upper branches

Detail of upper branches

A little more concrete need under the bird.

A little more concrete need under the bird.

Detail of trunk

Detail of trunk

The lower trunk and base.

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.

Herman Park bees

Early last winter I was at the Herman Park family garden- it is a jewel of a garden. They had everything; yummy plants, honey bees, fruits, and veggies galore. They had almost everything, I say almost- they did not give a native bee condo.It was my pleasure to gift to the Herman Park family garden an air, Bee, And Bee. It is awesomely installed right next to the berries. I also have them a bunch of reeds full of blue orchard bees. I hope their air bee and bee outs out the no vacancy sign soon. My vacant little bee condo houses lizards—no bees in my area. :(

Herman Oatks newly installed air bee and bee.

Herman Oatks newly installed air bee and bee.

Rumblings-Augochloropsis anonyma

In the past years blogging about my art practice was something I did everyday. It is how I document ny work. Then I started focusing on bees and their role in urban environments. Idecide to post a cool fact about native bees in my daily art post. Researching what fact to post bees has been like falling through the looking glass. I like to really get into whatever it is I am getting into. As a result the summer of 2019 Curtis and I binged watched bee documentaries. Sadly these are all about honey bees. I read every article that pops up on bees. I am constantly amazed at how much is unknown about this everyday insect. It has been so overwhelming I stopped posting information about the bees. I just could not pick just one cool thing to post a day.

There is very little information available about the Augochloropsis anonyma which is very frustrating. They are a sweat bee and there is a fair amount known about the sweat bees; they are a brilliant metallic blue-green color and one of the 140 members of the Halictidae family.
The earned the nickname sweat bees because they are attracted to sweat. With this information it is good to know they are not aggressive. They will only sting if you press them into your skin. If you are studying bees or garden and don’t want them to land on you wipe off the sweat and they will leave you alone. Please don’t hurt them. They are essential wild native bees.

You have probably seen one flying around wildflowers and various crops, including stone fruits, alfalfa and sunflowers but did not know you were seeing a bee. They are known as generalist and will pollinate almost anything. These bees fly under the radar, Being extremely tiny they measure only 0.125 to 0.5 inches in length they. You have to keep your eye out to notice this keystone creature.

Besides being generalist I see them as important because Augochloropsis anonyma adults have a long window of activity, and produce more than two generations of offspring a year. They are active between April and September in the northern portion of their range and year-round in its southern range. Having this long window of activity makes this species more likely to forage from a large number of different plants.

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Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus #1a and Sculpture Month Houston

In a moment of global uncertainty, I ask myself, what materials would I use to leave a message for future civilizations? As I think of artists who painted caves, of muralists from the past, of artifacts from ancient civilizations, I am curious about how we leave a mark. My answer is tied to the natural world: much of my previous work has been about conservation issues, looking specifically at bees, at waterways, at recovery from Hurricane Harvey, at bison and now, at grass. And so, if I were to write a message to the future, I would use grass to write it, and bison to carry the message.

 

Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus

 

For this year's Sculpture Month, I propose a site-specific sculpture of a bison, made from a welded steel armature, a work of land art covered in topsoil and dried native grasses. This is part of a comprehensive installation that I am currently developing, which considers the role of the American bison within Houston's specific soil ecological history. The work is titled Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus.

 

It is inspired by the words of M. Thomashow, who writes, "Record natural history to the collective memory so that it is no longer endangered knowledge." For several years, I have been researching grass-fed food production, attending soil conferences, and visiting regenerative ranches. Research in these fields show how to fight desertification and reverse climate change through regenerative agriculture practices. Interestingly, this natural history of living soil, how it evolved in the Houston Coastal Prairie, and its essential part within microbial communities in human health, is not common knowledge. 

 

Description of Work

In the hide of a sculpture, I tell the narrative of soil health. My sculpture will record this endangered natural history through the dense coat of the powerful humus-built bison, that will be dripping in the armor of locally sourced dried native grasses and sedges, seeds, and pods. The male bison will be supported by a welded steel armature, covered in a stainless-steel lath. The bison's skin, made from these dried grasses, will be attached to the lath with a Houston mud composite. I propose the 11' long bison be exhibited in the center of a large grain silo, the bison in an actively grazing stance, head down in plow position, his hump rising robust and bushy out of his heavy forequarters to 6.5' tall. Lighted from inside the grain silo funnel, viewers can approach the bison and intimately inspect the diversity of the native plants implanted in its pelt.

 

Ecological History

Historically B. bison functioned as the first farm equipment. The grass seeds clinging to their burly coats were carried across the plains as they migrated north to south and back between seasons, like tractors up and down fields. Herds of tractors not green, but a rich brown harvested the plains with their appetites, each bite stimulating new root growth. The old roots withered into cavities that served as dwellings for a variety of keystone species, and became underground cisterns collecting floodwaters for drier seasons. Their coats dropped kernels and cuttings as the winds ruffled their beards and chaps, and when they took dirt baths in buffalo wallows dug with their horns. Massive roaming compostors, a single bison cow daily dumping 40 lbs. of fresh manure onto these seeds and drilling them into the earth with their spade-like hooves, sprinkling them with the perfect prescription of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium-rich urine and then moving in a predator safe tight herd on to the next buffet. With time the newly sowed fields sprouted new growth of blades, stems, and leaves of countless shapes, sizes, and heights. This diversity of leaves fit like puzzle pieces into dense living solar blankets, harnessing carbon from the air and returning it as sugars to feed the dynamic root microbiomes below the earth’s skin. The complicated relationship between the soil microbiome and the human intestinal microbiome is one of the most dynamic topics in biomedical research.  Flocks of birds mutualistically

living off the pests harbored on the bison followed the herds, drinking from and bathing in rainwaters that collected in the bison wallows, building their nests from clumps of bison fur. Recent studies show the fur provides a health benefit to unborn chicks. Bird and butterfly habitats were abundant when the bison roamed.

Relevance

Global warming, food security, drought/flooding, wildlife habitats, economic instability, and health – these problems are not new to humankind. The archeology of ancient civilizations has recorded connections between the longevity of civilizations and the health of their soil. The United Nations reported in 2014 that the world's topsoil would only last 60 more growing seasons. Soil scientists around the globe agree that solutions to these issues are rooted in our treatment of soil—the skin that covers our planet.

 

Message to the Future

The armor that protects the epidermis in the Gulf Coast prairie is grass. The animal whose population peaked at 30 million, is B. Bison. Combine native grasses with ruminants and the grasslands decompose into rich organic matter; for every 1% increase per acre of biological organic material, the soil can hold an additional 20,000 gallons of water. Restoring native prairie vegetation decreases water runoff and flooding, increasing soil absorption of water and slowing floodwaters on land. With extreme building practices and concrete hardscaping, reimagining the landscape of Houston's 600 square miles of real estate can make a significant impact on the region’s flooding. The prairie grasses' roots can extend from eight to fourteen feet deep: these roots sequester carbon like an upside-down rainforest. Changing our agricultural practices is an important step towards turning global warming right side up. Telling the dynamic story about these relationships between the grazing herds, the living soil, and finding ways to reimagine urban landscapes and agricultural practices in holistic and regenerative ways are the center of my current research and sculptural practice.

 

The impact of the bison on sustaining topsoil—and, therefore, life—need not be Endangered Knowledge. The role bison play within the prairie ecosystem—their ability to increase photosynthesis, reduce competition for water, and regenerate depleted, unsalvageable, lifeless prairies back to productive and bountiful, nutrient-producing land and wildlife habitats—needs to be carved into our modern systems. Recording this Endangered Knowledge into the consciousness of humankind will stimulate grassroots efforts and stop the cultivation of soil depletion and return the natural process to the treatment of the skin of our planet. A Parietal artist in 2020, I will use grass to record the Soul of Humus so that it will no longer be Endangered Knowledge.

 

Additional work

Soul of Humus will be the first piece in my Endangered Knowledge body of work. The complete body of work will eventually consist of the following sculptures: 4 pedestal-shaped sculptures of roots and soil, measuring approximately 12" X 12" X 36"; installations made from native grasses and their roots (size and number to be determined); 1-5 bronze castings of bison dung with their spade-shaped hoof prints, dung beetles, and mushrooms. I am also currently in conversation with a bison rancher to secure a bison heart to float in a glass case of formaldehyde: the bison, the largest mammal of the western continent, is the heart of our soil diversity, it is the western symbol of a healthy planet. The health and longevity of civilization, as we know it, is dependent on finding ways to mimic the natural process stampeded into the bayous of Houston. In this sculptural series, I look closely at the components of this process and the environmental interrelationships unique to the Houston area and world health. 

 

Footnote-

Bison vs Buffalo which name is correct? The common name Buffalo has been widely used, since early settlers were naming them as their European and Asian counterparts. The correct name of the last American surviving bison is B. Bison.

 

Further Reading and information –

- Allan Savory on how to fight desertification and reverse climate change

Soil as Carbon Storehouse: New Weapon in Climate Fight? - Yale E360

- A Prehistory of Houston and Southeast Texas,– D. Worrall, coming fall 2020

- Can Livestock Grazing Stop Desertification?

                   https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-livestock-grazing-stop-desertification/

- Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations, by David R. Montgomery

- Soil Biology and Land Management https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_052489.pdf

- Bison Eating Habits

- Wildlife that Depend on Bison

 

 

 

Sample Work and Visual Support Materials for Proposed Sculpture

 

Two small sculptures that are made with the same structure, process, and made with native plants-

The bison will be furrier than these small birds are and would be dripping in a thick coat of textured dried grasses.

Hay Day Peace Pigeon 201615” X 12” X 8”welded steel armature, plaster and hay

Hay Day Peace Pigeon 2016

15” X 12” X 8”

welded steel armature, plaster and hay

 

Feathery Finery Peace Pigeon 201612” X 12” X 6”steel armature, steel lath, plaster and plants

Feathery Finery Peace Pigeon 2016

12” X 12” X 6”

steel armature, steel lath, plaster and plants

Three large sculptures that are made with the same armature and process, but I have used metal instead of dried plant cuttings  on the surface for texture.

Broken 201840” X 29” X 55”Welded steel armature, stainless steel lath, concrete, wire cloths and wire

Broken 2018

40” X 29” X 55”

Welded steel armature, stainless steel lath, concrete, wire cloths and wire

Sonata in 4D 20186’6” X 5’5” X 5’steel welded armature, stainless steel lath, plaster, wire cloths and wire

Sonata in 4D 2018

6’6” X 5’5” X 5’

steel welded armature, stainless steel lath, plaster, wire cloths and wire

Bringing Home the Bacon 201966” X 42” 60”welded steel armature, stainless steel lath, hydro stoner, wire cloths and wire

Bringing Home the Bacon 2019

66” X 42” 60”

welded steel armature, stainless steel lath, hydro stoner, wire cloths and wire

There are many textures of native grasses at the Katy Prairie Conservancy and Buffalo Bayou.

If you accept my proposal, I plan on asking the Katy Prairie Conservancy and the Buffalo Bayou Partnership to allow me to source my grasses and plants from their properties.

Sample of one of the many amazing textures on the various grasses and plants in the coastal prairies.

Sample of one of the many amazing textures on the various grasses and plants in the coastal prairies.

This shows the movement I am visualizing on the coat of the Bison

This shows the movement I am visualizing on the coat of the Bison

Below are Some of the source images I will use while sculpting the bison.

 most of these I took doing research at Roam Ranch this summer, fall and winter.

This shows the position of the head I am looking for, it is grazing but you can see the face. This is a cow (female) My piece will be a burly big old male.

This shows the position of the head I am looking for, it is grazing but you can see the face. This is a cow (female) My piece will be a burly big old male.

This is a large bull but it is not very old. My sculpture will be an old male that will have scrapped up and chipped horns from fighting and digging wallows and a massive thick (and dripping with dried grasses) big beard and chaps. This side view is…

This is a large bull but it is not very old. My sculpture will be an old male that will have scrapped up and chipped horns from fighting and digging wallows and a massive thick (and dripping with dried grasses) big beard and chaps. This side view is pretty close to what I have in my head. I might have his head turned slightly to one side. That could be determined by which side of the building the silo would be on. The face will be more interesting and textured than the back side of the bison will be. My sculpture would be grazing on taller grasses. I would also raise his head for more eye contact

This is a good image of a bull’s face. Not my photo.

This is a good image of a bull’s face. Not my photo.

another view- not my image

another view- not my image

Art Activist and City Council Woman

It was never my intent to become an environmental activist – I am beginning to wonder if that is what I am. Since the below email I have had one meeting with Sally Alcorn and her assistant Hannah Cobb. They are on board with my thoughts and want to help. We decided the first step is to look at the citi’s present landscape ordinance, and then Coronavirus 19 hit Houston.

I guess even in a pandemic certain things have to continue, such as city budget planning. I received an Instagram message from Sally April 27th at about 11:00 pm regarding a video of the City Council meeting and the City Parks budget. I will make another blog post summing up the results of that meeting. Maybe this pandemic will open some doors that normally would not budge.


TO:  Sally Alcorn salliealcorn@comcast.net

Dec 27, 2019, 10:14 AM

RE: Houston’s impact on bees.

Sally,

It was great to run into you at the mother-daughter Christmas party. I appreciate your interest in positioning Houston to become the leading city in the U.S., addressing the native bee environmental issue. You have a lot on your plate with your new elected position, so I thought I would recap a few of the important topics we discussed.

Scientists predict that without pollinators, human life can only continue for four years. In 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the Rusty Patch Bumble Bee on the endangered species list. The campaign to list a species as endangered is lengthy and complicated. With this system, it is difficult to gauge how many species are actually endangered. 


Bees are responsible for pollinating 75% of the world's flowering plants; they are crucial for the production of most fruits, nuts, and berries – our agriculture depends on pollination by bees. 

Rural areas are highly impacted by the unanticipated consequences of our industrial agriculture’s dependence on chemicals that weaken bee’s immune systems. Urban bee populations can be more diverse than in rural areas. Researchers are finding in cities such as Chicago, Berlin, Berkley, and Melbourne that have reimagined their parks, neighborhoods, city centers, vacant lots, street medians, and rooftops planted with native flowers, grasses, and fruit, and vegetables support healthy, vibrant wild native bee populations.

In the US, there are four thousand native bee species. They pollinate over three hundred times more effectively than honey bees. For example, A single female Leafcutter Bee visits 100,000 plus blossoms per day whereas a honey bee visits 50-1000. 

Unlike the honey bee, Native bees do not swarm, are not aggressive. Native bees are perfect for urban population centers. 

Houston covers 600 square miles of land and has one of the longest growing seasons in the U.S. As it continues to sprawl across Texas, its gardens must increasingly become a refuge for native plants and animals. With 2.3 million people living in the most vital economic, cultural center of the south, we can become the most critical urban native bee habitat in the United States. 

I have spent the last year and a half studying the bee situation as it pertains to my art and my interest in regenerative agriculture. I am determined to take this knowledge and save the bee in urban settings.

With Houston's land size, population, and location in the Sunbelt like it or not-we are impacting the bee population. 
I realize we will have to start with baby steps. Let's put our creative minds together, save the native bees, and build a better energy capital. This is a great opportunity for our new city council. 

I am very flexible are weekdays or weekends better for you to get together?

Best,

Cindee

 

P.S.

If Cuba can create urban gardens to feed it’s poor can you imagine what we can do.

https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/articles/2019-02-13/urban-agriculture-what-us-cities-can-learn-from-cuba

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

Covered in lath

Keeping an eye on my mix

Keeping an eye on my mix

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

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

First, I paint on the bonding liquid.

First, I paint on the bonding liquid.

The piece is now ready for coat number 2.

The piece is now ready for coat number 2.

Coat number 2 ✅

Coat number 2 ✅

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

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

More details

More details

Detail of upper branches

Detail of upper branches

A little more concrete need under the bird.

A little more concrete need under the bird.

Detail of trunk

Detail of trunk

The lower trunk and base.

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.