(Bluebonnets I)
IA
Found 06/2015, Goodwill (South 1st and Slaughter)

The intensity of color in this interpretation of Texas bluebonnets adds a darker meaning to this otherwise typical landscape with flowers. While the artist IA (?) did not date this picture, much of the early work in her school was produced in 2013, making its way to the larger thrift gallery scene in 2015. At the time, the 2011 fires that destroyed much of Bastrop and the Lost Pines would still be fresh in the artist’s mind. The fiery colors of a sunset could easily be read as literal fires, and the dark silhouettes of trees, a staple of Dabist work, may be the burning scaffolding of Texas chaparral. 

Stylistically, (Bluebonnets I) stands at a halfway point between modern Dabist painting and the Impressionist style that informed and inspired it. The rich color saturation of Dabism is clearly here, but IA has not fully invoked the powerful black elements that are a mainstay of the school.