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
Sewing 🐝 #4 experiment for possible community project.
Sewing 🐝 #4
This piece is a conversation starter. The bee on this cap is the Bombus Affinis or commonly known as the Rusty Patch bumble bee. This bee was listed on the endangered species list in 2017. It is the first U.S. bee to be listed.
Finished piece.
No planing just winging it. It explains why that antenna is so BIG
This fuzzy little body needs some wings.
Detail of wing and legs
I need to delete the giant antennae.
Copy added
Every bee needs some pollen in the air.
After I finished and stood back I was not pleased. It was too busy, too much. Today I took out Impact. It feels better, I will live with it and maybe take out Endangered and the pollen and plant pieces.
Is destitching a word?
Nine things that can help #savethebees
1. Plant a pollinator garden
2. Pull weeds or better yet go native, as many weeds and wild flowers are food for bees.
3. Do not use herbicides to kill weeds. Bees live in the ground and neonicotinoids kill microflora in bee guts, making them less tolerant to bee disease.
4. Find natural ways to combat mosquitos. Many urban beekeepers tell me their hives suffer when city mosquito trucks spray and when their neighbors install mosquito misting systems.
5. Become an urban beekeeper.
6. Buy local honey that is not mixed with corn syrup.
7. Provide a water source.
8. Buy local organic food.
9. Spread the word.
Sewing 🐝 #4 experiment for possible community project.
Sewing 🐝 #4
This piece is a conversation starter. The bee on this cap is the Bombus Affinis or commonly known as the Rusty Patch bumble bee. This bee was listed on the endangered species list in 2017. It is the first U.S. bee to be listed.
Finished piece.
No planing just winging it. It explains why that antenna is so BIG
This fuzzy little body needs some wings.
Detail of wing and legs
I need to delete the giant antennae.
Copy added
Every bee needs some pollen in the air.
After I finished and stood back I was not pleased. It was too busy, too much. Today I took out Impact. It feels better, I will live with it and maybe take out Endangered and the pollen and plant pieces.
Is destitching a word?
Nine things that can help #savethebees
1. Plant a pollinator garden
2. Pull weeds or better yet go native, as many weeds and wild flowers are food for bees.
3. Do not use herbicides to kill weeds. Bees live in the ground and neonicotinoids kill microflora in bee guts, making them less tolerant to bee disease.
4. Find natural ways to combat mosquitos. Many urban beekeepers tell me their hives suffer when city mosquito trucks spray and when their neighbors install mosquito misting systems.
5. Become an urban beekeeper.
6. Buy local honey that is not mixed with corn syrup.
7. Provide a water source.
8. Buy local organic food.
9. Spread the word.
Heritage- a new piece
In the fall of 2018 I started this piece to add to my Heritage series of sculptures. As a teen, I shaped hats in my father's western wear store and I began to understand that old hats are reflections of their owners, that they keep a bit of the spirit of the person who wore them. When I start a piece I am often thinking about a specific individual and a challenge they're facing. While working on this piece I had a conversation with a friend about his career. This friend is very very passionate about his profession and has an admirable work ethic. His work situation has been frustrating for several years. There was not a way he could remedy the situation. In the end he turned challenging circumstances into a new opportunity. He took the leap and carved a new path.
Initially, when I broke the piece out of the shell I was disappointed that there were so many spots that did not pour. The texture is exactly what I wanted, well worn and full of passion and character.
A little frustrated but keeping an open mind, I set it on my utility room counter. I like to set pieces I am working on there so I can glance at them quickly as I go about my household tasks. This allows me to think and rethink my next step with the piece.
I walked by it and glanced over quickly and it hit me, those patches that did not pour could resemble the new path that my friend carved. Is it possible this piece took on bit of the spirit of my friend and his circumstances?
The next step with this piece is to do the metal chasing. Once the metal work is done I need to make a decision regarding the cool spots. Do I want to patch the cool spots or leave it as is.
I will have to ponder that.
It is still sitting in my utility room. I do love the shadows. ????????????
Hurricane Harvey Heroes- LIVEstock- “bringing home the bacon” The inspiration?
He is one big pig, the beloved family pet that had to be hoisted upstairs to save him from drowning in the flood waters of Harvey. The idea of saving a pig was inspired by a YouTube video posted by a young family in Conroe, Texas. I hope you see in the figure not only the strength it takes to lift up a frightened squirming pig but also the determination that the figure has not to let the family’s favorite pet parish. The pig twist and turns while straining his back legs straight out trying to reach the ground.
photo by Nash Baker
Bringing home the bacon
66” X 42” 60”
Steel, stainless steel lath, plaster, hydro stone, wire mesh, screen and cloth, and baling wire.
the next pig post - why a pig?
Hurricane Harvey Heroes- LIVEstock- “bringing home the bacon” why a pig?
Why a pig? We humans have a lot in common with pigs. We're both omnivorous mammals that gain weight easily and are susceptible to the flu. We share 98% of the same DNA.
Photo graph by Nash Baker
66” X 42” 60”
Pigs are somewhat domestic (if you don’t believe me, check out @esterthewonderpig on Instagram). In addition they are on rural, commercial, and regenerative hog farms. They are incredibly smart and very clean animals.
2019 is the year of the pig. Pigs symbolize prosperity, wealth and abundance. Having a fattened up pig brings good luck. The Pig is thought to bring luck to farmers as it brings in a good crop.
The pig is very powerful and brings all good things. They are a very laid back animal they do not readily attack or anger.
They have been known to overindulge and can weigh an average of around 700 lbs. They are also often adored characters in nursery rhymes, children’s stories and tv shows as well as a variety of sitcoms. Miss Piggy, Porky Pig, Piglet, Timon and Pumbaa, Petunia Pig, The three little pigs, This little piggy went to the Market, Old Major, and Babe. I could go on and on.
A pig checks a lot of boxes that I feel a lot of people can relate to.
From a personal stand point, my brothers had a couple of pigs on our farm in Dell City. I was very young and can barely remember them. I do remember something about my oldest brother’s, Bob Travis Jr.’s, pig drowning. I am not sure how. It was not a flood because Dell City is in the middle of the desert. When we were teenagers and living in the city, my brother, Dean Travis, was riding his motorcycle in the desert checking his beehives and found a piglet lost in the desert. The piglet had gotten his head stuck in a paint can. I can still remember Dean pulling into the driveway on his motorcycle with the poor squealing piglet tucked under his arm with its head still stuck in the can. He lived in our backyard that summer.
In the early 2000s, we lived in New Orleans, Louisiana. There is a nice size Vietnamese population in New Orleans and a fair amount of Vietnamese pot bellied pigs. A family that went to my children’s school had a miniature Vietnamese pot bellied pig. The mom used to walk him to school on a leash when she picked her kids up at 2:45. My daughter, Sage, did everything in her power to convince me to buy her one. We already had two dogs, 2 birds, several frogs, turtles, fish and snakes. She finally quit asking when we learned they could not bend their knees to climb steps. Our home was on a small uptown lot with lots and lots of stairs. The pig would have to stay outside and we would want it to be part of our family.
If anyone has a great pig family pet, urban or rural, please share stories and pictures. I would love to hear and see them.
Most importantly I hope this piece can bring a little good luck and good fortune to the people who are still suffering the wrath of Harvey.
Hurricane Harvey - sculpture day 26 “bringing home the bacon”
Building the ears and adding baling wire before the plaster.
Looking nose to nose
Hurricane Harvey - sculpture day 8 “bringing home the bacon”
I started the upper torso.
I always make the shoulders too broad and then have to adjust them. I will do that tomorrow.
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.
VoyageHouston
http://voyagehouston.com/interview/check-cindee-travis-klements-artwork/
Every once in awhile when you really need it something nice happens. Thank you VoyageHouston for featuring my work and focusing on Houston Artist.
"..in every falling leaf there is some pain, some beauty......." - a poetic moment -
On my brisk morning walk this beautiful leaf stopped me dead in my tracks. I carefully scooped her up and gently carried her home. She is so beautiful I could not take my eyes off her. I took at least 30 photographs of her. When I was through she whispered a saying I once read.
"In every change, in every falling leaf there is some pain, some beauty. And that's the way new leaves grow." - Amit Ray
A fallen leaf
I can see her pain in the veins that articulate her flesh, and I can see how that pain has entrusted in her a strength. I can see in her frailty a grace. I can see in her a beauty that can only come from falling.
- cindee
"Chickens can save the planet too......" Pentaptych of drawings
Inspired by Griffin and Alex's video "Chickens can save the planet too...."
"Chickens can save the planet too V"
charcoal
30" X 22" on Stonehenge
"Chickens can save the planet too IV"
charcoal
30" X 22" on Stonehenge
"Chickens can save the planet too III "
charcoal
30" X 22" on Stonehenge
"Chickens can save the planet too II"
charcoal
30" X 22" on Stonehenge
"Chickens can save the planet too I"
charcoal
30" X 22" on Stonehenge
pentaptych
