I like to share interesting art that I’ve found in my wanderings around Austin. This art excursion occurred back in March, when I explored a few East Austin galleries and public art pieces. Here’s an exhibit I really enjoyed at Cloud Tree Studios & Gallery: Austin artist Valerie Fowler‘s swirling, vivid, almost trippy paintings of the natural world.

Landscapes by Valerie Fowler

The exhibit of her covid-times paintings was called Earthshift: She Will Have Her Way With You.

This one may have been my favorite.

I love this one too.

And check out the big folding panels. Check out Valerie’s interview on Central Texas Gardener for more info about her.

Hola Friend mural by Will Hatch Crosby

Afterward, driving around East Austin, I spotted this creature-feature, ode-to-friendship mural at the southwest corner of Cesar Chavez and Robert T Martinez Jr Street. Will Hatch Crosby painted Hola Friend, he says, “to celebrate the cultural diversity of East Austin, and [it’s] also a tribute to Daniel Johnston’s iconic ‘Hi, How Are You’ mural.”

It’s irresistible, with a scaly, octopus-like creature popping up to say hello to a broken-horned, scaly, long-tailed bull.

This is all of us, re-emerging after the challenging last few years.

Hi, Amigo!

Bison Heart by Chris Levack

Turning onto E. Cesar Chavez Street, I spotted a large metal heart with a buffalo framed out in metal and filled with cedar logs. OK, gotta stop and take a closer look. It turns out this is a piece by artist and builder Chris Levack, whose organic-inspired work I’ve photographed in various gardens.

Chris writes:

“This is one of the 11 Hearts on East Cesar Chavez. [Eleven] of us artists took large, metal hearts crafted by @magicalt73 and built our own vision onto them. My idea was based on the transitory nature of this street. Before it was 1st Street it was the main horse trail into town. Way before that it was a bluff overlooking the Colorado River where tens of thousands of bison would traverse the riverbed between the Blackland Prairie and the Hill Country. The juniper branches were culled from just upstream.”

@Levack_Outdoors

In other words, it’s a ghost bison, evoking Austin’s natural history.

Tire planters at Lou’s

It wouldn’t be an art crawl without a drive-by of some funky Austin plantings. At a stoplight I spotted these stacked-tire planters of cactus and yuccas at Lou’s, a restaurant located where a tire shop used to be.

These plants are road warriors, in planters to match.

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Digging Deeper

Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!

All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.