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
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
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.
For Our Ancestors, Calvert County Tobacco
Oil on Canvas
24" X 30"
Heritage Roses
Oil on Canvas
24" X 36"
Touching the Past
Oil on Canvas
8" X 10"
Blackberries
Oil on Canvas
8" X 10"
Searching for Glory
Oil on Canvas
8" X 10"
I, Alone, am Responsible for this Death
Oil on Canvas
8" X 10"
Tobacco in My Veins
Oil on Canvas
8" X 10"
Air Curing Tobacco
Oil on Canvas
36" X 48"
Untitled
Oil on Canvas
30" X 40"
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. The young man represents Dr. Nathanial Carroll who worked on the Dowell farm in the 1850’s to earn money to purchase his father’s freedom who was enslaved at a neighboring farm. Both Carroll and Dowell would go on to earn Ph.Ds., despite having come up through vastly different circumstances and times in history.
Leroy's Gifts
Oil on Canvas
48" X 72"
Every Farm Needs a Goddess
Oil on Canvas
48" X 60"
