Good News from Dallas!

The Dallas Observer has posted a link to a sneak peak of the public art to appear in the New Love Field Airport.  Notice the mosaic wildflower wall I proposed for the main entry lobby wall...

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2011/10/take_an_early_stroll_through_t.php

I'm really excited about this project and to be part of such a great collection. Checking the website in the next few weeks for images of the design and the beginning of the painting.

Fall in Montreal

Even with all the work in the studio, we were able to get out and spend some time on the mountain that rises in the center of Montreal. What a glorious fall!

Sam Houston continued...

Working hard this week in Montreal... it's coming together nicely.  Check it out!

Final Placement- This the the bottom 6 feet or so of the mosaic.  

The brown and white tiles have not been glazed yet.  

Sam Houston Progress

I'm in Montreal Canada this week working with Mosaika on the finishing touches to the 3 story mosaic for Sam Houston State University satellite campus in the Woodlands, TX.  I'm working to place the handmade tiles Kate and I made in the studio this summer.  The tiles are a variety of shapes and textures  from frogs, spiders and lily pads to microscopic pollen, seeds and pond life. We are also recycling left over tiles made for Strata which was completed in 2009!  I'm placing all the textural handmade tiles at hand and eye level so they can be viewed and accessed easily as people move up and down the staircase.

The whole mosaic is looking great and I'm excited to see it installed.  The installation date is set for January 2012.

Special thanks to the whole Mosaika team! It would not look as good without your hard work and goods eyes.  To see the team in action check out their studio blog.  To see the original painting and a rendering of the mosaic click here.

placing handmade tiles

recycled Strata tiles

HeLa Retablo

It's Retablo time!!! Every year, Lawndale has a retablo exhibition to honor and celebrate Dia de los Muertos.  The retablos are sold for fundraising at a silent auction gala.  I've been making a retablo for Lawndale for many years and really look forward to the whole event every year.  For this year's retablo, I took inspiration from the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks  by Rebecca Skloot which told the story of Henrietta Lacks and HeLa cells.

For more information about all the Dia de Los Muertos festivites and tickets to the gala at Lawndale click here. Hope to see you all that gala!

Backyard Beehive Adventures

We had a very adventurous day at the studio Monday!  Jennifer the Bee Wrangler came over to help move a bee hive that was living in a tree in the yard.  The tree has been dropping limbs and badly needs to be trimmed but the tree guys will not go near it until the bees are gone.  I have been interested in bee keeping for a while and really wanted to keep the hive.   I've even been making honey comb like sculptures, subconsciously inviting bees into my life.  Miraculously, a friend pointed me to Jennifer, a local Houston bee wrangler, who will come and take the bees, allowing them 2 months to regenerate their hive and then bring them back to install in a new box hive in my yard.  Check out Jennifer's site and blog at www.thebeewrangler.com.  The images below to give a glimpse of the amazing process she uses to get the bees out of the hive.   Here's a hint: it involves a shop-vac!

subconscious sculpture

Step 1: making smoke to calm the bees

Step 2: Cutting off the honeycombs

Step 3: The vacuum

Step 4: Cutting the hole bigger

Step 5: Searching for the queen and pulling out more honeycombs from inside the hole

Step 6: Making sure the queen did not fall out!

Step 7: Checking out the honeycombs

Looks like the queen is in there!

Hive relocation SUCCESS!!  Thank you Jennifer!!

METRO North Line designs at MFAH

Come see the final designs for the Metro expansion at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The work I did for both Burnett and Boundary stations are on display in the hallway in the lower level of the Beck building. Also check out the great article in Houston Culture Map here.

To see images of the designs check out Metro on my Current Projects page.

Thank you to Sara Kellner at Kellner Consultants and Arts in Transit for putting on such a lovely opening reception.