Artwork of the Week - 2nd June 2014

Dale Bowen - Barely Up!

Bright, colourful and lots of fun, Dale Bowen's artwork is an escape into a parallel universe. A land filled with circular trees and patchwork hills. Barely Up! features two hot air balloons occupied by teddies, floating off into the skies above. Love hearts float through the air and cows graze on the hills below.  This distinctive artwork leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling inside! Barely Up! is a Signed Limited Edition Print which is supplied framed. The edition is of 100 but each artwork has a hi gloss resin finish which has 3D elements to it, making each piece truly unique.

Although Dale Bowen was interested in painting from an early age his previous career was as a master potter, he worked in this industry for over 20 years. He firstly worked for Coalport China and then for Wedgwood for 15 years. He created many one-off pieces for the collectors' market and commissions while he worked in the Prestige Department of Wedgewood. Many of these pieces were highly decorated and exclusive, fetching in some cases in excess of £100,000. More recently he gained a Masters Degree in ceramics at Staffordshire University.

Dale Bowen's works are exhibited in Museums throughout the USA, Japan and the UK.

Individual commissioned pieces include one for Coalports 250th anniversary, the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday celebrations, the Battle of Trafalgar 200 years celebrations at Portsmouth Naval Museum and also a plaque of the same event presented to Her Majesty on board Victory at the same event.

Dale Bowen says, “When painting I like to use a variety of mediums as I feel the need to experiment and master as many methods as possible. I sometimes work from crude sketches as well as photographs as a varied approach allows for more creativity.
Creativity comes from a number of different sources, observation or even conversation, inspiration always surprises me in the ever unusual ways it catches me. Although working in the pottery industry for so long and being creative with clay, it is always the joy of painting which is my first love and keeps me returning to canvas. The creative process in art is self propelling and sometimes all consuming, it comes in waves and has forever altered the way in which I view my surroundings."

Dale Bowen's Signed Limited Edition Prints sell out very quickly due to his popularity and low edition sizes. His full collection can be viewed at Union Art.