JOHN FOWLER ART

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2010-07-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

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startled hare

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lucas

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may

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abandoned steading

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the cullins over sleat

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fellside

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blues

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shorthorn 1

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shorthorn 2

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shorthorn 3

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2009-09-24T14:02:00.000-07:00

SELF PORTRAIT

Pastel, 30x15cm.

Portraits are like handwriting, adding to the information, imparting a sense of immediacy, revealing more than a mechanical record. I don't know if it is what I'm best at but it is what I most enjoy doing.

I started taking commissions some time ago - brave move but one I have enjoyed. In fact I tend to do more work than people expect - several fairly finished pieces is not unusual driven by my urge to experiment. To date I've had no rejects but I expect I wouldn't charge if the client was not happy with the result.

2009-09-22T14:04:00.000-07:00

TRUST

This is one of series of paintings that I produced for an exhibition at Up Front Gallery near Penrith to reflect on the Appleby horse fair - though I chose not to exhibit this particular piece.

I had never attempted to paint horses before nor to infiltrate, sketch and photograph some pretty rugged characters in the process. The experience was challenging but enjoyable and I saw a society that is steeped in tradition and full of colour, much of it decidedly non PC.

2009-09-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

CATHY

I have now painted several performers and find that they are so absorbed in what they are doing that they appear natural making good subjects for portraits. I particularly like cellos and my friend Cathy plays it so well and looks good at it.

2009-09-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

I struggled to the top of the fell behind my house to what I believe is called the High Road and where tinkers and the galloway teams of ponies travelled a couple of centuries ago - at a time when this area of the North Pennines was alive with industry driven by lead mining. It is now pretty near to being a wilderness and this painting is how I felt about it when I came back down - it's surprisingly flat, windswept and with wide sweeping fells rising and falling through 360 degrees.

LEVENS HALL TOPIARY 3

2009-09-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

SEE LEVENS HALL TOPIARY 1

£300

LEVENS HALL TOPIARY 2

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LEVENS HALL TOPIARY 2

£300

LEVENS HALL TOPIARY 1

2009-09-22T07:45:00.000-07:00

LEVENS HALL TOPIARY 1

This is a magical place, especially the ancient garden and most especially the yew tree topiary which has been shaped since Elizabethan times by generations of gardeners. A living sculpture with enchanting elegant shapes, dark nooks, rich yew tree greens and shadows of ghosts extending back to Elizabethan times.

I have made three in this series and want to continue to do more.

2009-09-22T05:28:00.000-07:00

JOSEPH'S BARN

Named after our neighbour this barn was used as a shelter for Galloway cattle and their feed. It is typical of many such sturdy small stone buildings that you can see throughout upland farms and which have stood firm against weather and rough use. They have mellowed and melted into the landscape and have become a record of a way of life that has not yet, quite, become history.

I enjoy them for their colours, their age, their hardy nobility and their ghosts.

2009-09-22T05:16:00.000-07:00

LIMOUSIN IN WAITING

Upland cattle are kept in sheds or barns during the cold weather - maybe as much as seven months of the year. This Limousin, at least a ton him, is undoubtedly raring to get out. When they eventually get into the pastures with their harem they are like children let out of school at the end of term bellowing and racing around until the important business of breeding takes over.

2009-09-22T04:58:00.000-07:00

ABANDONED GATE

Gates are important in farms and have been used and reused for generations suffering from decay, weather and human abuse that morphs them into a distorted but far more interesting version of their original shapes and blending them gradually into their environment.

Red taurus

2008-12-01T07:16:00.001-08:00

IMG_2035, originally uploaded by johnfowlerart.

I have made several paintings of this Limousin bull, attracted by his massive, almost indolent, power. This view of him, although unconventional, conveys his bulk and, with rippling muscles and that baleful glare suggesting real danger.

Himba people

2008-12-01T06:51:00.001-08:00

Himba people, originally uploaded by johnfowlerart.

This is a pastel study of a man and his daughter waiting for the rains in Namibia. Life will be hard till this relief comes involving a long walk to the nearest water hole.

Part of a short series that celebrate the Himba people who are one of the last tribes in Africa to follow a lifestyle that has not been changed completely by the encroaching western style of civilisation.

Young hare

2008-12-01T06:45:00.001-08:00

Young hare, originally uploaded by johnfowlerart.

I do enjoy painting hares. It may be their eyes and an almost comic character that is so captivating. When you hang a painting of a hare (a good one at any rate) it transforms a room, demands attention and is reminiscent of wild places.
This painting is part of a series in oil and acrylic on canvas at various sizes, mostly with images that pretty well actual life size.

portrait of a young man

2008-12-01T06:38:00.001-08:00

portrait 012, originally uploaded by johnfowlerart.

Life drawing and painting is excellent and challenging practice for draughtmanship and a privilege that I first started many years ago at art college and was bale to take up again after retiring. By using soft brown and ochre tones in pastel I have aimed, in this work, to capture a moment of introspection.

CHAINS

2008-12-01T06:33:00.001-08:00

JOSEPH'S CHAIN

when he saw this painting our retired farmer neighbour wanted to know where I had seen them because he had lent them out years ago!

I like worn the incidental flotsam of farming life - handled for generations, rusted or rotted to subtle colours and still battling the elements but often still providing some service. They are eloquent.

Appleby horse fair

2008-12-01T06:27:00.001-08:00

Appleby horse fair, originally uploaded by johnfowlerart.

Part of a series painted in 2005 celebrating the ancient Appleby Horse Fair in Cumberland.
Pastel.

Ennerdale

2008-11-22T04:04:00.001-08:00

ennerdale, originally uploaded by johnfowlerart.

Ennerdale, at the Western edge of the lake district, is a special place. Designated as a wilderness a couple of years ago means that there will be no commercial activity in the valley and that the area will revert back to nature. I worked on a painting project to capture the atmosphere that this idea evokes and hope to continue adding my painterly evidence as time goes on. It may not change that much in my lifetime but there is already a primeval quality to the emptiness of Ennerdale that would be hard to find anywhere else in this country.

Pennine Sunset

2008-11-18T04:32:00.001-08:00

IMG_1964, originally uploaded by johnfowlerart.

Light and colour can be dramatic in the Pennines. This acrylic painting was completed in one sitting and direct from the view I see from my studio. It was inspired by a soft autumn sunset which I had you have to work quickly to catch.

Wedding

2008-11-15T07:16:00.001-08:00

Wedding, originally uploaded by johnfowlerart.

A portrait I quite liked as a testimony to the happiness of the marriage of the subjects granddaughter. A figurative and fairly approach seemed appropriate.

Allenbanks Beech

2008-11-13T07:03:00.001-08:00

Captured on a fine winter day clear slanting sunlight highlighted the drama of this fine old beech. Painted in oil on canvas I have built up several layers and scraped them away to create a depth of colour and benefit from accidental marks that add to a sense of natural growth.

Morning Chorus

2008-11-13T07:02:00.001-08:00

Morning Chorus, originally uploaded by johnfowlerart.

I am fascinated by the way rooks congregate and face into the wind. That and the corvine arias they deliver. There is something primeval about these dark birds evoke, familiar yet other worldly.

Limousin Bull

2008-11-13T06:26:00.001-08:00

Limousin Bull, originally uploaded by johnfowlerart.

This painting was made in 2006 and is a pretty faithful account of a near neighbour...I like his baleful unflinching gaze. Master of his territory he weighs in at around a Ford Galaxy and with more than enough muscle to topple the stone wall he is resting his head on.

Carrshield Fire

2008-11-13T06:16:00.000-08:00

This is a view from my window of the fellside at Carrshield...the land is broken, ridged, creased and folded - scarred by man and the elements - to create some dramatic landscapes that change from soft and inviting to foreboding depending on the weather and light.

Oil and acrylic on a deep box canvas.

Tim Gray with Trevor

2008-11-13T06:01:00.001-08:00

Tim Gray with Trevor, originally uploaded by johnfowlerart.

This is a painting of Prof. Tim Gray with Trevor the cat painted with oil stick on canvas and reflects a relaxed moment amongst friends. Private collection.