MADE ON ISLAND
Painting the World in Bold Strokes
Watercolorist Ann H. Howes
There’s nothing timid about the way Ann Howes approaches watercolors. Her paintings are vivid in color and extreme in contrast, ranging in tone, she says, “from the darkest of darks to the lightest of lights.” At 73, she has been captivated by art for as long as she can remember and grew up surrounded by it. Her mother was a watercolorist, too, and art, according to Ann, runs in the family. Without pause, she rattles off a series of relatives, some of whom live on the Island, who paint or sculpt with passion.
While both of her parents were born on the Vineyard, Ann grew up on the mainland, living here seasonally from birth until nine years ago when she and her late husband made it their full-time home. Today, her son, daughter, their spouses and a granddaughter live on Island as well, continuing a long-standing family tradition.
The Island offers Ann a constantly evolving palette and rich natural settings that inspire her, she says. “I wake up and look out the window to check the weather. I get so excited when I know I can get out to paint. I think about it constantly,” she explains. Preferring to work on location when possible, she shoots reference photos to keep her busy during the winter months. But the colors of each season are spectacular, she notes. “I love the purple hues of winter, the huge blue skies and clouds of summer, the lime green grass of early spring, and the absolute brilliant blue of the water. This is a fantastic place to be an artist and it lends itself to watercolor.”
Ann will continue to show her work at the Old Sculpin Gallery in Edgartown and at selected Vineyard Artisans Festivals in West Tisbury, but this spring will add a new gallery to her roster – her own. She is collaborating with a group of approximately nine other artists – painters, potters and jewelry makers from the Artisans Festival – to open the Night Heron Gallery at 58 Main Street in downtown Vineyard Haven. “Main Street is becoming quite a gallery row,” she says. “We’re a group of established artists with a following, so when the building came up for rent, we thought it would be fun to give it a shot.” She and fellow artists including Ingrid Goff, Nick Thayer, and Washington Ledesma plan to share shifts at the gallery, with two artists working together during business hours. Ann says the group hopes to keep the gallery open throughout the year with the possible exception of a month in the winter.
A member of the prestigious American Watercolor Society, the National Watercolor Society, and the Salmagundi Club, Ann’s representational paintings have earned national accolades. And while she points out that watercolors have historically been undervalued in the American art world, they have come into their own in recent years. “Watercolors were what your grand-mother did,” she says with a chuckle. “But we’re seeing more paintings with depth and brightness of color today. There’s more pigment in the paints themselves, so we stand up well against oils or acrylics now.”
Enamored with the spontaneity of the medium, Ann finds the immediacy of watercolors challenging. “With oils, you can paint for 10 years if you want. With watercolors, it is what it is when it first comes out. You have to know where you’re going. You have to have a plan.”
Ann Howes’ paintings are exhibited at the Old Sculpin Gallery on Dock St. in Edgartown, 508-627-4881; at the Night Heron Gallery at 58 Main St., Vineyard Haven; and at the Vineyard Artisans Festival (Labor Day show only), West Tisbury.
While both of her parents were born on the Vineyard, Ann grew up on the mainland, living here seasonally from birth until nine years ago when she and her late husband made it their full-time home. Today, her son, daughter, their spouses and a granddaughter live on Island as well, continuing a long-standing family tradition.
The Island offers Ann a constantly evolving palette and rich natural settings that inspire her, she says. “I wake up and look out the window to check the weather. I get so excited when I know I can get out to paint. I think about it constantly,” she explains. Preferring to work on location when possible, she shoots reference photos to keep her busy during the winter months. But the colors of each season are spectacular, she notes. “I love the purple hues of winter, the huge blue skies and clouds of summer, the lime green grass of early spring, and the absolute brilliant blue of the water. This is a fantastic place to be an artist and it lends itself to watercolor.”
Ann will continue to show her work at the Old Sculpin Gallery in Edgartown and at selected Vineyard Artisans Festivals in West Tisbury, but this spring will add a new gallery to her roster – her own. She is collaborating with a group of approximately nine other artists – painters, potters and jewelry makers from the Artisans Festival – to open the Night Heron Gallery at 58 Main Street in downtown Vineyard Haven. “Main Street is becoming quite a gallery row,” she says. “We’re a group of established artists with a following, so when the building came up for rent, we thought it would be fun to give it a shot.” She and fellow artists including Ingrid Goff, Nick Thayer, and Washington Ledesma plan to share shifts at the gallery, with two artists working together during business hours. Ann says the group hopes to keep the gallery open throughout the year with the possible exception of a month in the winter.
A member of the prestigious American Watercolor Society, the National Watercolor Society, and the Salmagundi Club, Ann’s representational paintings have earned national accolades. And while she points out that watercolors have historically been undervalued in the American art world, they have come into their own in recent years. “Watercolors were what your grand-mother did,” she says with a chuckle. “But we’re seeing more paintings with depth and brightness of color today. There’s more pigment in the paints themselves, so we stand up well against oils or acrylics now.”
Enamored with the spontaneity of the medium, Ann finds the immediacy of watercolors challenging. “With oils, you can paint for 10 years if you want. With watercolors, it is what it is when it first comes out. You have to know where you’re going. You have to have a plan.”
Ann Howes’ paintings are exhibited at the Old Sculpin Gallery on Dock St. in Edgartown, 508-627-4881; at the Night Heron Gallery at 58 Main St., Vineyard Haven; and at the Vineyard Artisans Festival (Labor Day show only), West Tisbury.