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Dowell Farm

Margaret's art is vitally grounded in place yet unbound by time.  The homestead being primary, she cultivates a continuance with past stewards of the land.  This is seen in paintings such as Dr. Margaret Dowell (2022) and Dr. Nathanial Carroll (circa 1850's) and Self Portrait With Bush Hog and Ancestor that pay tribute to both physical and metaphysical roots in Calvert County, Maryland.  While, Tea Time at Dowell Farm invites us to be soothed alongside the beast that we sometimes encounter while exploring our own personal folklore.  As Gustave Courbet said, "Show me an angel and I'll paint one."  In Margaret Dowell's paintings, we see similar ethereal messengers alive and well.  

 

Unflinchingly unveiling the deeply personal, we are ushered into a field of images that weave Margaret's unique history with shared human themes of wonder and renewal.  Having worked the land itself, Margaret's art unearths the stories buried here, and the vitality of her brush welcomes us to connect with the earth and our creative presence on it. 

 

Bradley Lance Moore 

Bradley Lance Moore is an artist, art conservator, and freelance art writer.  His background includes restoring paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and lecturing on art history at the National Gallery of Art. 

hay and tendons

Hay and Tendons 

Oil on Canvas

48" X 60"

Today hay production is the crop of choice at Dowell Farm.

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Dowell started this work after being diagnosed with a significant tear in her rotator cuff – a tear resulting from “acting like I was still 21 on the farm”.  With limited range of motion, she moved forward painting this detailed rendering of hay, complete with an imaginative rendering of her tear.

Self Portrait With Bush Hog and Ancestor

Self Portrait With Bush Hog and Ancestor 

Oil on Canvas

48" X 60"

Out of necessity Dowell learned to bush hog at 60.  For years she climbed on her tractor to bush hog overgrown tobacco fields until saplings and their stumps disintegrated and fields became fertile once again.  She admits being nervous/scared working on uneven terrain, until she sensed she was not truly alone. 

Heritage Roses

For Our Ancestors, Calvert County Tobacco

Oil on Canvas

24" X 30"

Heritage Roses

Oil on Canvas

24" X 36"

For Our Ancestors, Calvert County Tobacco
Touching the Past

Touching the Past

Oil on Canvas

8" X 10"

Blackberries

Blackberries

Oil on Canvas

8" X 10"

Searching for Glory

Searching for Glory

Oil on Canvas

8" X 10"

I, Alone, am Responsible for this Death

I, Alone, am Responsible for this Death

Oil on Canvas

8" X 10"

Tobacco in My Veins

Tobacco in My Veins

Oil on Canvas

8" X 10"

Air Curing Tobacco

Air Curing Tobacco

Oil on Canvas

36" X 48"

untitled

Untitled

Oil on Canvas

30" X 40"

Tea Time

Tea Time

Oil on Canvas

48" X 60"

Dr. Margaret Dowell (2022) and Dr. Nathanial Carroll (circa 1850's)

Oil on Canvas

48" X 60"

In this time warp piece Dowell paints herself with a young man who worked the tobacco fields on the same land she did - but more than 100 years apart.  Dowell Worked to help support her family.  Carroll worked to earn money to purchase his father's freedom (his father was enslaved on a neighboring farm).  Both Dowell and Carroll would go on to earn PhDs.  

Dr. Margaret Dowell (2022) and Dr. Nathanial Carroll (circa 1850's)
Leroy's Gifts

Leroy's Gifts 

Oil on Canvas

48" X 72"

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