Texas Hill Country Art

The Hill Country is the part of Texas that surprises people.

You come over a rise west of Austin and the flat gives out — limestone, live oaks, spring-fed rivers running clear and cold enough to hurt. Cypress trees leaning over the Frio. Bluebonnets taking a whole pasture for about three weeks in April and then gone.

Texas Hill Country Art and Bluebonnet Prints

This is the Crum Art work drawn from that country: bluebonnet paintings in blue, aqua, hot pink and chinoiserie line, a Shiner bottle on the rail at Gruene Hall, the Frio at Concan, New Braunfels. Some of it is faithful to the place. Some of it is a joke the place would get.

It travels well as a housewarming gift, a wedding present for people who got married at a river, or the thing you hang when you have moved away and want a window back. Original family artwork by Betsy, Caya, Carl and Tavi Crum, working in Texas. Printed to order.

Questions

What size should I get? The square pieces run 8x8 matted to 12x12 up through 24x24. The horizontal and vertical work runs 8x10 matted through 24x36. Over a bed or a sofa, take the largest size you are willing to commit to; the common regret is going one size down. For a stair wall or a hallway run, pick one size and repeat it.

Does it come framed? No. Everything is in standard sizes, so any frame shop or off-the-shelf frame will fit without a custom order, and you get to pick something that suits the room.

When are the bluebonnets actually out? Roughly three weeks in April, and the exact three weeks are nobody's to promise — it depends entirely on the winter rain. The prints are the reliable version.

Is this a good wedding or housewarming gift? It is one of the better ones, because it is specific without being presumptuous. A river somebody swam in, a dance hall somebody closed down. Everything is made to order, so allow production plus transit and order ahead of the date.

Nearby: bluebonnet wall art for the flowers on their own, Austin art prints and Waco art prints for the towns, Texas sky wall art for the big horizontals, Round Top for the antiquing crowd, or housewarming gifts and hostess gifts if you are shopping for somebody else.