An ode to wildflowers (in watercolors)

Sunflowers with Bumble Bees (9 x 9) is one of the watercolors on display at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Sunflowers with Bumble Bees (9 x 9) is one of the watercolors on display at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

At the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Aug. 31 – Dec 8

A selection of my new watercolors, four new color lithographs, and an assortment of small oil paintings will be on exhibit at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center of the University of Texas at Austin.

The show, titled “Natural Patterns,” will be on view inside the McDermott Learning Center, a beautifully restored carriage house on the grounds of the wildflower center.

The center is located at 4801 La Crosse Avenue, Austin, Texas 78739.

Most of my new works (as well as the selected oil paintings) for this exhibit fall into the category of botanical studies.

The watercolors are based on sketches of wildflowers, mostly native to Texas, and some of the creatures – butterflies and other insects, in particular – that are associated with these native plants.

Jimson Weed with Black Swallowtail, 9 x 9The four new lithographs fall into the same category and were inspired by the watercolor studies.

I will be sharing the space with Texas sculptor, Charles Allen, who will be displaying a dozen or so sculptures of flowers, hand-cut from a variety of metals, intricately shaped, soldered together and painted.

His colorful sculptures and my vivid two-dimensional works should be a dynamic visual combination.

If you happen to be in the Austin area over the next four months and particularly if you have never been to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, stop by and see the show and visit the center. It will be well worth the trip!

The exhibition will be on view through December 8, 2013. Click here for more information.

Billy