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Denise Dowdy

African queen

Artist's statement:

Denise is pursuing her dream of becoming an accomplished and vibrant artist - a passion she pursues daily in her home studio.

She feeds this passion first in the making of her art, and then in the clients, teachers, and other artists she meets along the way, through workshops, shows and exhibitions.

She is constantly exploring new influences, ideas, subjects, methods and materials. Her interest is in all drawing and water-based media and at present, in integrating portraiture into her abstract painting. In her work, she loves creating layers of complexity by using colour, texture, shape and patterns to entice the imagination, and challenge the viewer to explore an underlying emotion that is expressed with the stroke of a brush, rather than words. Her tools are passion, strength, colour, determination, design, shape, pattern, line, texture, value, and space. In her work she loves colour, integration, movement, people, music, animals, symbols and hand-written thoughts/poems.

"I make art, because I love it and I love to express myself through colour, shape and texture. My goal for my paintings is to evoke emotion in the viewer and to draw them in. Bring them closer and let them see the way I view the world around me - the way I express myself.” – Denise J. Dowdy

Overview of artistic development

Denise J. Dowdy, born in Hamilton, ON, Canada, started drawing and painting very early. She has taken many high-level workshops in water media, mixed media, watercolour, printmaking, and monotype in Montréal, Québec PQ, Toronto, Ottawa, Kingston ON and Clayton, NY. -- all of which influence her art.

Education

Dawson Collage, Montréal, Québec: Professional Photography, mixed media painting, figure drawing

College Marsan, Montréal, Québec: Digital Imagery and Web design

St Lawrence College, Kingston, ON: Web design, mixed media painting.

Kingston Potters Guild: sculpture in clay. Hand and wheel built pottery and sculpture, Kingston, ON

Nepean Sportsplex – Visual Arts, Ottawa, ON – figure drawing

Workshops

Mixed media with Anne Barkley - Clayton, NY – mixed media water-based painting

Mixed media and abstract painting with Brian Atyeo – Ottawa, ON

Mixed media and figure drawing with Louise Lachance Legault – Ottawa, ON

Juried Shows and Exhibitions

Spring Mix - Britannia Gallery - May 06

Intuition - Alliance Française, 362 MacLaren St, Ottawa, ON - Oct 06

Novus - Ottawa Art Gallery - Ottawa, ON - Sep 06

Group Shows

Long and Lean show - Rasputin’s Café, Ottawa, ON - Mar 06

Small Wonders - Nepean Sportsplex, Ottawa, ON - April 06

Hip 2B Square - Rasputin's Cafe, Ottawa, ON - Nov 06

Solo Shows

The Table Restaurant - 1230 Wellington St W., Ottawa - 24 Nov - 10 Dec 06

Ottawa Women’s Credit Union - 271 Bank Street, Ottawa - 2 Jan - 2 Mar 07

Outdoor Art Festivals

Art on ice - Ottawa Winterlude - Feb 06

Art in the Park - Glebe Ottawa, ON - June 06 (juried show)

Art in Strathcona Park - Ottawa, ON - July 06

Urban Art @ Minto Park - Ottawa, ON - July 06

Women's Art Festival - Kingston, ON - Aug 06 (juried show)

Upcoming Group Shows

Reality’s Edge - Brittania Art Gallery, 2738 Howe St., Ottawa, ON 29 Apr 07

Annual Juried Competition - Cornwall Regional Art Gallery, 168 Pitt St. Promenade, Cornwall
1 Feb -10 Mar 07

Affiliations

Ottawa Mixed-Media Artists (OMMA)

Canadian Artists’ Representation/Le Front Des Artistes Canadiens (CARFAC)

Awards and Honours

Juror’s Choice Award – Spring Mix – Britannia Gallery – May 06

Award of Excellence – Intuition – Alliance Française – Oct 06

Galleries that show my work

Alliance Française, 362 MacLaren St., Ottawa, ON

Ottawa Art Gallery Sales and Rental, 2 Daly Ave, Ottawa, ON

Cornwall Art Gallery, 168 Pitt Street Promenade, Cornwall. ON