Artist's Statement

 My paintings are oil on canvas. They reflect my passion for traditional pastoral landscapes.

Though I have travelled extensively, my paintings are primarily of English and Nova Scotian landscapes. I'm attracted by the beauty and power of the 'simple' and the 'everyday'. These landscapes evoke special feelings for me; a sense of connection/place and belonging, of simpler, less-hurried times and a gentler relationship with the land - regarding our stewardship of it.

Water plays an integral part in the majority of my paintings. I've always been particularly interested in the relationship between water and a landscape; not only the influence that water has upon our perception of the landscape, but of it's own voice. In its countless guises, it has a universal lure and appeal that is beyond words.

I often refer to my work as a form of 'tightened Impressionism' due to how my style often reads as a blending of Realism and Impressionism, containing elements of both. Luminism weaves its own thread throughout my work; crucial to creating the sense of atmospheric perspective and sense of ambient light that can be seen in much of my work.

I am drawn to more old worldly landscapes and have a growing sense of awareness that these types of landscapes, and the 'way of life' that they represent, are slowly disappearing.

                                               Biography

David Howells was born in Leicester, England and immigrated to Nova Scotia, Canada at a young age. As a child, he loved to draw and would duplicate black and white photographs of animals with graphite. This fascination with producing life-like drawings led to years of painting high realism, using gouache. David studied fine arts at Mount Allison University in Sackville, N.B., and graphic design in Middleton, N.S. where he graduated as Class Valedictorian. His work first gained public exposure in 1982 with Zwicker's Gallery in Halifax, N.S.

In his early twenties, David turned to oil painting, and discovered a new technique and approach to his art. His palette became more colourful and his style more free, lending itself towards Luminism. In 1986, he moved to Toronto, Ont., where his work was exhibited in various Yorkville galleries. His art has been exhibited at the O'Keefe Centre in Toronto and is in many private and corporate collections in Britain, Europe, Australia, the United States and Canada. In 1996 David's work placed first in the oil painting category at the Allen Town Art Show in Buffalo, New York. Some major commissioned works have included murals, book illustrations and stone lithos. He has also taught courses and been a guest lecturer. 

Currently a permanent resident of St. Croix, Nova Scotia, David has travelled extensively in just under fifty countries. This broad range of exposure and his love of nature are evident in his paintings. Mainly traditional pastoral landscapes and garden scenes, they reflect both the beauty of the many geographic areas he has explored and the influence of his favourite artists - John Constable, for his earthy landscapes, and Monet, Pissarro and Sisley, for their palettes and sense of atmosphere.