BATS by Bern Abplanalp

BATS
Bern Abplanalp
Oil on canvas
12”h x 36”w x 1”d
2024

Based on “en plein air” sketches over the years along Lady Bird Lake, BATS is self-explanatory as on-lookers brave the hot summer evenings to watch the emergence of an seemingly endless stream of Mexican Free-Tailed bats from the Congress Street bridge. The composition is designed to balance warm and cool colors that only sunsets can provide, while using silhouettes of people to show friends, families, dates, and hopeful children with balloons enjoying an iconic night in Austin.

Get to Know the Austin Artist:
I picked up the creative bug years ago after realizing how much I enjoyed sketching, which started on vacation while cooped up inside waiting out a particularly long, intense rain storm. Shortly after that trip I took my first painting class at Laguna Gloria in Austin and quickly became addicted to the creative process. 

My art subjects tend to reflect my life's passions, most commonly landscapes explored while traveling with my wife, experiencing the great outdoors, or fun with our dogs.