>> BJ Robinson: In this edition of KPBS "Spectrum," a sculptor creates works of art from gourds.

>> Tia Flores: So you're putting beautiful images on there, but at the same time you're able to tell a story and a meaning behind it.

>> BJ: An artist envisions the gardens of his favorite composers.

>> Barry Leibman: I was listening to Mozart "Clarinet Concerto."

And all of a sudden I felt, "Oh, my goodness, this is it."

>> BJ: An opera singer with an eclectic sound.

>> Giselle Bellas: I've always been interested in singing.

My grandmother always encouraged me to sing and dance and so did the rest of my family.

>> BJ: And big bugs take over an Ohio park.

>> David Rogers: I'd been working and being creative with branches and trees and saplings and constructing things with.

It was all about form and function.

>> BJ: That's all ahead on this edition of KPBS "Spectrum."

[music] >> BJ: Hi, I'm BJ Robinson, welcome to KPBS Spectrum.

First up, we visit the studio of artist Tia Flores from Reno, Nevada.

Using gourds as her artistic medium, she creates traditional works of art, reflecting the rich culture of her people and hometown.

Check it out.

>> Tia: My name is Tia Flores I do paragraphic gourd sculptures or calabasas sculptures.

Calabasa art is, actually, it's a fancy name for gourd.

I use gourds as my canvas and from then I do wood burning on it which is known as "pyrography."

Pyrography is an ancient art form of drawing or writing with fire.

And there are different types of hot tools that you can use to burn on a particular surface.

And because the hard-shell gourd is very much like the surface of wood, it takes really, really well to wood burning or the pyrography.

The gourd is one of those natural organic units that's been found on nearly every continent on the world.

It's been used by every culture in the world.

In fact, it predates pottery.

In some countries it was used for ceremonial purposes.

That's what the Native Americans use it for.

I started working with gourds in the 90s, the late 90s.

I was going through sort of a transition in my life, a career transition, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.

And I also wanted to get in touch with my heritage.

The pieces that I create and design, they're a reflection of my family history.

I'm a fourth-generation Nevadan.

And so, from my mom's side of the family they were settlers that came across, very stoic, hard Nevadans, you know, worked in the mines and stuff.

And then, on my dad's side of the family, that's the Aztec and Navajo.

And my grandma was a healer.

So a lot of my work reflects either side of the family.

They're either, it's a, you know, Navajo teachings on that, or Aztec symbolism, or something that's reflective of the Nevada desert or the Great Basin.

Growing up in Nevada, I've always been drawn to the creatures and the animals and the habitat.

And I love the symbolism and the vast beauty of the desert and I try to reflect that in a lot of my pieces.

I've always been fascinated with snakes and the pattern and the texture and just the beauty of that snake.

In Navajo, the butterfly represents transformation, that we're always growing and evolving into something, you know, more beautiful.

If you take a look at the tortoise, the tortoise shell represents the birth of earth and it represents mother nature.

So you're putting beautiful images on there, but at the same time you're able to tell a story and a meaning behind it.

I like to surround myself with the gourds in my studio.

Let's say I find the perfect gourd.

Sometimes I'll look at it and I'll see something come out of it.

There's an image that needs to be put on it.

Then I clean it, and it's got a nice smooth, smooth surface that's really conducive to the wood burning on it.

And I sketch out my designs on it.

And then, once I sketch it, then I start to burn it, and just lightly burning it, just to give it a light touch and to see how it goes.

When I'm making my art, there's nothing that separates me from the gourd because I have to hold it.

I have to cradle it the whole time I'm working on it.

There's just this nice connection.

You almost go into a different state.

As you're burning it, the smell almost reminds you of sitting around a campfire.

It's very meditative and very relaxing.

Your mind can go off into different corners, especially when you're sitting around and you're, you know, embracing the gourd and there's just that earthy connection that I just love to work with.

>> BJ: To see more of Tia Flores' work, visit CalabasArt.com.

Next up, artist Barry Leibman of St.

Louis, Missouri, finds inspiration for his work in music.

In a recent exhibition, Leibman creates abstract works representing the imaginary gardens of classical composers.

Here's a look.

[music] >> Barry: I decided to do this series of paintings on composers and what might have been their gardens if they had gardens.

So it really became imaginary gardens.

How their music inspired me to create a garden based on that music.

I got interested in music as a subject matter.

I was listening to Mozart "Clarinet Concerto."

And all of a sudden I felt, "Oh my goodness, this is it, this is something really moving," while I was painting.

So I closed my eyes and just let my hand move, and it was really a wonderful feeling.

And so that's when I realized that that music itself was the subject matter, not just the background.

The idea was in my head from both wanting to do something musical and wanting to do something with something floral.

>> Duane Reed: Well, I've known Barry for over 25 years now, and I've followed his work for probably about 15 to 20 years.

I love the original approach he has to paintings, the exuberance, the meaning, the content.

I think he has a nice control of color, and the materials that he used are right up our alley.

We like material-based work.

And I love the collages, and I love to look at the work and actually see something or feel a content there.

And I actually approached the work before I even knew it was about music and saw something there that really appealed to me and really drove me to find out more about the material and about what he was doing.

So it was really interesting when he told me it was about imaginary gardens and about music and it was all connected.

>> Barry: For me, it's the layers of meaning in each painting because thinking about myself and what's important to me, it seems that we are all much more complex, much more evolved and involved with life than it appears just from the surface.

So that, as I started to sort of understand what I was attracted to in art, which was different layers of material, I seemed to, like, that's what I always would go to that drew me and I thought, "Well, this is what I'm interested in."

The paintings don't represent my life.

They're a conversation with me and me.

The difference between having a conversation with you is picking up the clues of what your facial expression is, what you're saying back to me, and so forth.

With a painting, it's just me and the painting having a conversation.

Once I sort of feel that, that there's enough meaning there, then I start to feel really satisfied with the painting.

Do you know what I'm saying?

It was sort of a solitary experience that I really enjoy.

Abstract art offers us another opening to intellectual and emotional pursuits and feelings.

And but you have to get-- it takes a while to be attuned to it, I think.

The paintings, for me, are both emotionally driven and intellectually motivating and stimulating.

And I seem to need both.

Sometimes the intellectual gets in the way when you stand back and you examine it too much.

It can start to really, you know, change the emotional impact of it.

I need both the emotional and intellectual.

It's the same thing I feel about the literature that I read.

It's not just the content, it's also the style.

All the paintings are first done either with oil paint or oil sticks as a base.

And then, materials such as fabric canvas board.

I've used pieces of wood.

I've used string.

It sort of depends on what I have around and what I want to work on.

But it's definitely materials based, which is part of what I feel is the layering of experience.

So it's all sort of tied in.

[music] >> Barry: Over the past 20 years of doing this, I've realized that the paintings really come from an internal place that I need as I know more about myself and understanding of complexities of life.

The paintings have more meaning to me and the things that I want to work on have more depth.

[music] >> BJ: To see more of his work, visit BarryLiebman.com.

Now, let's take a look at some art events happening around San Diego.

[music] >> BJ: Up next, we go to Orlando, Florida and meet singer Giselle Bellas.

From classical opera to pop and jazz, her passion for all styles of music is boundless.

Combining these styles of music has given her a unique sound that has led to immense success.

Take a look.

[singing in foreign language] >> Giselle: Giselle Bellas: My name is Giselle Bellas.

I'm from Miami, Florida, but I was raised in Orlando, and I sing opera.

[singing in foreign language] >> Giselle: I've always been interested in singing.

My grandmother always encouraged me to sing and dance, and so did the rest of my family, and it just sort of grew into this obsession of mine, and playing instruments.

So, since I was little, I can't even remember when I wasn't singing.

I went to Dr.

Phillips High School in the performing arts magnate, and there I was able to take music theory.

I was able to take music history, electronic music classes, piano classes.

It set me up so well for the real world and basically, this is like a little mini conservatory that I was able to go to before going to an actual conservatory.

So it's pretty fantastic.

[singing in foreign language] >> Giselle: What I love about opera is that it's bigger than life.

It incorporates all art forms.

There's something about singing without a microphone over an orchestra that is just incredible.

I mean, who else does that?

So I knew when I saw it, I'm like, "I want to do this.

That is pretty cool."

I mean, besides the story being beautiful and the music being some of the best music in the world, opera is just, it's huge.

It's bigger than life, it's amazing.

[singing in foreign language] >> Giselle: It's hard making a living in opera, not that it's not possible or that people don't, but you definitely don't do it for that reason.

You do it because you have a crazy love for it.

[singing in foreign language] >> Giselle: I'm here at Dr.

Phillips High School speaking to the students because it's really important to me to educate, you know, upcoming musicians.

A lot of singers nowadays are lacking the educational experience and the knowledge that they need in order to succeed and do well.

>> Giselle: Wow, you guys are--clearly, you love that song.

Like, the whole energy changed, like, right away.

It's like, okay, now go sing the other one with that.

That was amazing.

>> Giselle: Nowadays, a lot of kids don't know about other genres.

First thing I ask, "Who knows of an opera?

Has anyone seen an opera just to hear?"

But then sometimes I'm surprised, especially here at DP, you know, a lot of kids, they know a lot of stuff.

They know, they're very good kids.

Kids are just so open minded and so fun and eager to learn.

So it's really nice to have that energy, and it reminds me of, like, why I'm doing this all the time, just seeing a kid who's so excited to do what I'm doing.

I've tried making opera more current and more accessible to young people.

>> male: Basically what we've got, you know, he's got Hip-Hop and then, you know where you're coming from with the opera and the vocals.

What do you think about maybe merging the two together?

[music] >> male: Great job.

>> Giselle: Cool, thank you, guys.

No, good job, you guys.

You like it?

I mean, I think it's pretty cool.

>> Giselle: Opera was essential to everything I'm doing now because it gave me the confidence.

Taking a bit of a change in direction.

I do a lot of writing and singing popular music now.

You know, I still occasionally dabble with the opera and I still train.

That's very important to me because it keeps my voice healthy and allows me to use my technique in various genres.

I've been writing my own music, working on my EP now.

Just released my first music video.

[music] ♪ Fever, where'd you run to ♪ ♪ Fever, where'd you run to ♪♪ >> Giselle: My new album is not operatic.

It's a cover of the Black Keys' "Fever."

That's just a little taste of what my music's going to be.

I never close the door on anything.

I wouldn't say I'm closing the door on opera.

Just say I'm opening up a new door and staying here for a little bit.

Thank goodness I still have opera, because without it I don't know what I'd do.

Right now, I just have to follow my heart, and with all of the doors that are opening up for me, who knows what's in the future?

But right now, I'm focusing on my music.

♪ Fever, ♪ ♪ why won't you explain ♪ ♪ Break it down again ♪♪ >> BJ: To find out more, visit Giselle.us.

Now, here's a look at other art events happening near you.

>> BJ: Finally, we visit the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus, Ohio, where big bugs are found all over the outside garden.

These ten enormous insect sculptures, created by artist David Rogers, were carefully crafted from wood and other natural materials to create a buzz about the place.

Check it out.

>> David: The praying mantis weighs close to 100 pounds.

The ants behind me is close to 700 pounds, overall weight.

So the big bugs exhibit has--there's, I think we have 12 sculptures in total here.

The sculpture exhibit is comprised of different subjects from the insect and arachnid world.

And they're all made out of trees.

They're super large scale, and they're made out of trees, different trees, different techniques.

The praying mantis' body by itself is 15 feet long.

I'd been working many years ago making rustic furniture.

[music] >> David: I was visiting a cousin's property in Vermont and behind his house in a large open field was a bent over maple sapling that had been ravaged by a previous winter's ice storm.

And I said to him, "Wow, doesn't that look like a backbone to a dinosaur?"

And that was my first big branch sculpture, and it changed everything.

It was a big, big, you know, it was like an epiphany because I realized I'd been working and being creative with branches and trees and saplings and constructing things with.

It was all about form and function.

[music] >> David: You know, to get away from that and just to build things for the fun of building something that just, it's fun to look at.

It's fun to build, fun to look at.

And I was working on this giant dinosaur scale, so I thought, "Well, let's marry those two ideas together."

And that was how "Big Bugs" were born, really.

So, the "Big Bug" sculptures are, you know, they're all made out of tree, different trees, different techniques.

There's only four basic woods.

They're black locust, black walnut, and red cedar.

Those are the hardwoods that I use that I actually carve.

And then one of the other main materials in the exhibit are willow saplings, which are individual trees growing out of the ground, which I go out and harvest myself.

So I have, the ants are willow, the spider web is fabricated from willow, and then all the details on the dragonfly and damselfly wings is also willow.

Because the willow is so perishable and because it doesn't last very long, only, you know, 2 to 3 years is about right.

I've made in my career over the 22 years of "Big Bugs," 44 ants, which is 44 heads and 44 thoraxes and 44 abdomens.

And then who can do 6 times 44 in their head really quick gets the door prize.

I can't, but it's hundreds.

Because it was a botanic garden and I was thinking about subject matter, and I started thinking of the insect world and the incredible, more important role that they play in the garden.

And I start referring to them, and still do, as the hidden gardeners.

And I didn't want anything to look creepy, but I also didn't want anything to look cartoonish.

But somehow, I found that middle ground without really trying to that they're not menacing, there's the play--the playfulness is just there.

You know, to take these little tiny, seemingly insignificant animals and then put them on this, like, huge scale, this big role-reversal thing happens.

Because the show travels to all botanical and arboretums around the country and because all of those institutions have a very vital mission statement and they want to create a place for people to come and to just enjoy the beauty of nature, but also understand how important it is to preserve it and protect it and to nurture it and be good stewards.

And somehow, that I get to play some small role in that mission, which is an amazing experience.

>> BJ: To see more, visit Big-Bugs.com.

That wraps up this edition of KPBS "Spectrum."

For more arts and culture, visit KPBS.org/Arts, where you can check out the KPBS arts blog, feature videos, and upcoming arts events.

I'm BJ Robinson, thanks for watching.

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