Downtowner Gallery

Dating back to the beginnings of art, people have used natural materials for their creative purposes. As some examples: using minerals and plant pigments to create paints and dyes; creating paper from wood pulp; transforming bone, stone, seashell, and plant fibers into still other materials for art, and beyond; and using metals, clay, and other elements sourced from the earth. In many ways, natural art is the original “creative reuse” art, taking found items and debris and utilizing it to convey thoughts and share creative expression.

With an array of textures that comprise over four dozen 2D and 3D artworks, selections in the “Natural Art” exhibit in the Downtowner Gallery include something – whether directly or transformed – that was once alive or that comes from the earth. There are also works of art that represent the natural world but were created using manmade art supplies. Still other pieces used natural elements during the creative process (including stone lithography).

Included in this exhibit are: a snare drum fashioned from reclaimed mango wood from a forest in Indonesia by artist Bahtiar Zulham; branches, leaves, plastic and other materials, in the hands of artist Helen Mary Vanston Marek that form a remembrance of the damaging 2023 Texas ice storm; Maria Magaldi’s sculpture fashioned from clay and seeds, which is made from and also about nature.

“Natural Art” is on view in the Downtowner Gallery in Round Rock, TX, May 9-July 5, 2024. All art unless otherwise noted is available for purchase.