CHESTERTOWN — Bonnie Howell is the featured artist in May at The Artists’ Gallery in Chestertown, where she has been the managing partner since its founding in 2003.
The title of her new show is “Water Gardens.”
Any artist will tell you that water, in any form, is a challenge to paint.
So no matter where she finds water, Bonnie Howell is drawn to that challenge.
Last October she traveled to France where she visited the long-admired home of Claude Monet, located in the quaint village of Giverny, about an hour’s drive from Paris.
Though the day was overcast, Howell still marveled at the pond that is so well known for its water lilies and surrounding gardens.
“It was wonderful to see the attention given to the flowers still blooming in early October,” she said.
“They surrounded the pond and then spilled over into many large gardens leading to Monet’s home. Riots of color and perfumes filled the air as visitors made their way round this paradise Monet called home,” Howell added.
But don’t look to find Impressionism in the main body of Howell’s new works.
Though she’s long admired the style Monet helped to inspire, Howell is true to her own style of realism.
That said, she has produced a few “Monet-esque” miniatures just for fun.
The show offers closeup images from Giverny pond, as well as other places along the banks and tidal creeks here on local rivers, which sometimes provide natural gardens to enjoy.
“Often the reflective qualities of water itself or the movement of water and light give rise to their own patterns of beauty which she delights to paint. All these experiences leave Mrs. Howell with a smile of joy,” a news release states.
Howell hopes viewers also will find pleasure in the oil paintings she has produced for this new body of work.
The public is invited to join Howell and her partners for the opening reception on First Friday, May 1 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at The Artists’ Gallery, 239 High St. in downtown Chestertown.
For information, call 410-778-2425 or see theartistsgalleryctown.com.
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Bonnie Howell received her bachelor’s degree in fine arts from St. Andrews University [North Carolina] and a teacher’s certificate from Washington College.
She taught art in both private and public schools during her early career.
Then, she painted mostly wildlife and portraits as a freelance artist before forming The Artists’ Gallery partnership in 2003.
She continued her art training with noted portraitists John Sanden of Portraits Institute of New York City and John Ebersberger of Maryland Hall in Annapolis.
Howell also has taken classes at the University of Maryland and done graduate work at the University of Delaware.
She has been a member of the Portrait Society of America and past president of Working Artists Forum in Easton, with whom she has exhibited her paintings in regional shows.
Howell’s works are in many private collections across the United States as well as in local public collections such as the University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Chestertown, Washington College and Watershed Alley restaurant.
Also, several large murals of hers are in the Turnersville Assembly Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, New Jersey.
She works mainly in oils.
