Story by Karen Parr-Moody
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Despite possessing an earthy mood inspired by rust and concrete, painter Jennifer Bowman’s abstract paintings can also look like a fairy’s landscape of dreamy blue, rich brown and warm gold.
In the show, “Entangled Roots: The Art of Jennifer Bowman,” currently on exhibit at The Customs House Museum, Bowman’s paintings illustrate how different abstract art can be, depending on which artist creates the work.
Bowman’s abstracts are unlike the bold style of Jackson Pollock, whose slick drips of paint splattered wildly across his canvases. Rather, her work skews in the direction of paintings by Helen Frankethaler, an abstract artist who passed away two years ago after a long career. Like Frankethaler, Bowman is the master of the watery wash, and her shapes are like shadows emerging from many layers of paint.
Bowman, a self-taught artist, began to show her work in 2007 and, in a twist of fate that surprised her, became successful at it. She is now a full-time painter.
“This is all very bizarre to me,” she says of her success. “I don’t even know how to describe it, that feeling of doing something I love. People are encouraging me with that and buying my work. I still feel like I’ve just started.”
Bowman is inspired by signs seen in everyday life, including rusted signs, well-worn pavement or weather-beaten facades. She also uses everyday materials as her painting medium, such as coffee, which she loves for the richness of color it imparts.
There is a continuity to Bowman’s work, which makes her paintings perfect for collectors who want to place multiple pieces in a room.
“What I do is very experimental,” Bowman says. “I feel like with each piece, I take something from that piece and learn with the next piece … with a medium or technique or tool, I’ll take that and I’ll either say, ‘Well I’m never going to do that again!’ or ‘That was cool!’ and pull it into the next work.”
Represented by Bennett Galleries of Nashville, where she once worked as an employee, Bowman now has what can only be called a following. Her works have been seen on HGTV and are also in collections across the U.S., including the University of Kentucky and Hopkinsville Community College. Billy Ray and Tish Cyrus acquired a piece to use in a home redesign.
“Entangled Roots” will be on view through Jan. 5 at Customs House Museum, 200 South Second Street. For more information, call the museum at 931-648-5780.
“Composed” is the massive painting that welcomes viewers to “Entangled Roots: The Art of Jennifer Bowman,” a gorgeous collection of abstract work at the Customs House Museum.
The deep blue of “Harvest Vibe” is finished in a slight gloss, like colored glass.