Valerie Fowler

Valerie Fowler grew up in Houston. Her father was noted Houston sculptor, Bob Fowler (1931-2010). After graduating from U.T. (with a B.A. in Art) she made Austin her home. Nature is her muse. Her complex and intricate oil paintings and drawings describe a natural world of extreme beauty and vigor while also conveying nature’s sensitive vulnerability. Her past work includes painting murals for Whole Foods Market in Austin, Chicago and Ann Arbor, illustrations for The Texas Observer, illustrations for CD jackets for local musicians, including a fully illustrated, 64 page book that accompanies the CD for "Ivy and the Wicker Suitcase", a musical project written, recorded and produced by her husband Brian Beattie. She and Beattie produced the full stage production for Austin's Stateside at the Paramount Theater in 2014. In 2016, Fowler held Nature and Other Stories at Austin’s Dougherty Arts Center, a solo exhibit and mid career retrospective, with artworks spanning 2 decades. Fowler has exhibited widely in Austin and throughout Texas and is collected internationally. In 2018 the Texas Book Festival named Fowler their official Festival artist. Both she and her husband maintain studios adjacent to their South Austin home. She paints, draws or gardens daily.