Wayne McDowell
Wilmington, North Carolina
Born in Memphis TN, 1960.
• 1972 began drawing and painting from life, including painting the rural Mississippi landscape where I was living. Early influences were Andrew Wyeth and Winslow Homer watercolors.
• Attained a GED and left High School in 1979 to attend seamanship school in Maryland.
• Began working on a river boat in 1980 and continued this on and off until 1984. During this time I began doing watercolors of my version of "Life on the Mississippi".
• 1985 I was accepted into the Memphis College of Art on a portfolio scholarship. After my first year of a art history survey class it was clear what I needed to do.....work, a lot. I began taking painting and drawing 101 classes where John Torina was my first painting teacher. After a few weeks in class John invited me to work out in the landscape with him, this is the beginning of my real learning. We worked outside together every morning and afternoon seven days a week for the next 3 years.
• 1989 I left art school without graduating after it became clear that what I really wanted to do was to paint. My instructors told me that I was a better painter then I was a student, after three years of around the clock school work, holding down a job and my "in plein air" painting for four hours a day, I agreed. Plus I was offered the opportunity by a new friend to move to rural Missouri so that I could focus solely on my work.
• 1991 I was approached by the curator of the museum at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau MO to have my first solo show. This show brought together three years of work documenting my move from painting what I see to painting what I think, which led me into the world of abstraction. During that three period I wanted to move the viewer from looking at my work and seeing only the time of day or a particular passage of color to understanding how my belief in Taoism affects the way one sees and the way I began to relate Taoist principles to the construction of objects and the application of paint and pastels in my work.
• 1993 Met my soul mate and muse and promptly fell apart with indecision of the direction of my life and work as I had no real job skills and my future was looking bleak working for minimum wages and painting canvases that I did not
understand anymore.
• 1995 I bought my first computer and taught myself the industry standard graphic design software and got my first real job doing page layout and advertising. Also began exploring the new field of internet web page design.
• 1998 Moved to Wilmington, NC refreshed and began painting again while doing graphic design for the print and web industries.
• 1999 Solo exhibition of recent work titled "The Involuntary Arc" a reference to an internal goal to not allow my intellect to interfere with the act of painting while trying to persevere tangible evidence of the journey one hopefully takes while working.
• 2000 Freak heart attack while preparing for my 2001 opening. This led to a body of work that I titled "The Cage Series" in reference to the rib cage as not only a protecter of the heart, but also, in my case, a cage for the past.
• 2001 Opening of "The Cage Series" at North Fourth Collection in Wilmington, NC. Began also to have a revived interest in working from life, so I began working in the field again as well as still lives and an occasional portrait.
• 2002 Began working on a web project for a German based corporation, this allowed me to make my first trips to Europe. I was also invited to attend the No Boundaries International Artist Colony, This was my first real connection to other artist working locally and from around the world. While preparing for another solo show at Simmons Wright Gallery. While painting still lives I began to "see" the abstraction in the subject instead of thinking it, this was a major break through for me and my working from life. Solo opening at Simmons Wright for this new work. Two of the landscapes from the
No Boundaries Art Colony were selected by Kent Mitchell for the Bald Head Island Corporation Collection, while another was purchased by a private collector.
2002:
• Solo and group shows at Simmons Wright Gallery, Wilmington, NC.
• Signed on with Chase Gallery in Wilmington, NC.
2003:
• Solo show at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Gulf Port MS and lecture
for Art Appreciation Classes.
• Solo and group shows at Chase Gallery in Wilmington, NC.
• Signed on with Hodges & Taylor in Charolette, NC
• Began teaching painting classes at the Cameron Art Museum.
2004:
• Work excepted into the Cameron Art Museum's juried Show.
• Painting "Interior Still Life" acquired by the Cameron Art Museum.
• Introductory show Chase Gallery in Boston, MA
• Continue teaching painting classes at the Cameron Art Museum.
• Invitation to attend the No Boundaries International Art Colony at
Bald Head Island.
• Begin representation with Buchanan Gallery, Galveston Island, TX
• Show of recent landscapes at the Cameron Art Museum.
• New still life and landscapes show at The Artist Gallery, Wilmington, NC
Shows for 2005:
• No Boundaries Art Colony group Show, Bald Head Island, NC
• March 05 solo show at Hodges Taylor Gallery, Charlotte, NC
• March 05 solo show at Buchanan Gallery, Galveston Island, TX
Wayne McDowell Exhibitions
Solo:
1991: Access and Vehicles, a curated exhibition, Southeast Missouri State University - Cape Girardeau MO
2000: The Involuntary Arc, North Fourth Collection - Wilmington, NC
2001: The Cage Series, North Fourth Collection - Wilmington, NC
2002: Simmons Wright Gallery, Wilmington NC
2003: Recent Works, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College - Gulf Port, MS
2003: Chase Gallery - Wilmington, NC
2004: New Landscapes at the Cameron Art Museum
2005: Hodges Taylor Gallery - Charlotte, NC
2005: Buchanan Gallery - Galveston Island, TX
Group Shows:
1988: Juried Student Show, Memphis College of Art - Memphis TN
1992: Gallery 100, Missouri Arts Council - Cape Girardeau, MO
1993: Southeast Missouri State University - Cape Girardeau MO
2001: Artist of Southeastern North Carolina Juried Exhibition - Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington NC
2002: Simmons Wright Gallery, Wilmington NC
2002: No Boundaries International Artist Colony, Acme Art Studios - Wilmington, NC
2003: Chase Gallery - Wilmington, NC
2003: Hodges Taylor Gallery- Charlotte, NC
2003: No Boundries group show - Wilmington, NC
2004: Cameron Art Museum Regional Juried Show.
2004: The Artist Gallery, Wilmington, NC
2004: Introductory show at Chase Gallery, Boston, MA
2004: No Boundaries Art Colony, Bald Head Island, NC
Corporate Collections:
Edgeview Partners, Charlotte, NC
Grant Thornton, Charlotte, NC
Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC