Phyllis McDowell
Phyllis McDowell, trained at Bromley College of Art and Art
Teachers’ Training College Brighton, is what could be called a Folkestone
fixture. Phyllis had several teaching posts in Ghana and Los Angeles, where she
stayed 4˝ years, finally establishing herself in Folkestone in 1979 following a
period in Zambia.
At that time there weren’t as many artists working in Folkestone, although you
might have found paintings by John Eveleigh, Director of the Art School, Brian
Oxley, Fred Cuming and the late John Titchell, who all worked here. As Phyllis
says “much of the art was the result of traditional art training with the
emphasis on drawing, tone and paint, representational but not photographic and
distinctly painterly.” Since then new blood has been drawn into the town.
With an artistic career that spans three continents and a couple of decades,
Phyllis has built up her reputation by converting a garage into a working studio
where she has set up art classes. Phyllis runs workshops and gives painting
demonstrations with exhibitions at her studio. She has been inspirational and
mentor to many Folkestone residents.
The Retrospective at Folkestone’s Grand Hotel (June 9th to June 25th) takes work
from 1953 to the present, encompassing early figure studies (portraits and life
drawing) and lithography. Phyllis’s early works shows her interest in all
aspects of social existence, carried through into her work in Africa. From Los
Angeles Phyllis developed a deeper interest in the flat surface of the canvas
and colour for its own sake. You will find some work representing this phase
also. Of this exhibition, Phyllis says “this is the most important exhibition in
my life, bringing together my art history”. There are some 200 pieces of work on
display.
More recently Phyllis has worked on landscape, while also continuing the figure
studies and indeed her views of Folkestone Harbour with surrounding hills have
become iconic. What does she like about Folkestone? “The sea, the sky and the
light, the hills, the cliffs … all of it really!”
Go to the exhibition at The Grand, June 9th – June 25th.
Phyllis’s work is also available for sale at the Ebony Twist Gallery in Tontine
Street and The Framing Centre, 109 Sandgate Road.
Contact Phyllis on (01303) 250955, or visit
www.phyllismcdowell.com
Diana Crampton
Article from Go Folkestone Newsletter June 2007
