Frank Howell Biography Continued:

     Exceptionally intelligent and articulate, Howell graduated from The University of Northern Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts degree and went on to obtain a Masters Degree in Creative Writing from the University of Iowa. In the early 1960's, he taught high school English in Chicago. In 1968, Howell moved to Breckenridge, Colorado, and began to paint professionally. His early works, reflecting a realistic technique, are of detailed portraits and landscapes.

     In the mid 1970's, Howell settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and his painting began to take on a more spiritual quality. His portraits of Native Americans demonstrate a quiet maturity and wisdom, both compelling and empowering.

     Howell's current work is a metaphysical marriage of abstract art and realism. He prefers to sit in front of the canvas and wait for the image to come. And it always does. The images create illusions of realism; hands open, hair flowing, wind and feathers present a Universal spirituality and deep awareness of our place in nature. Howell believes that a painting is a mirror allowing each individual viewer to perceive the "feeling" the image represents. The role of the artist is to provide these mirrors, not to provide answers, but to create a space for questions.

     One cannot merely observe a Howell image. To view a Frank Howell painting is an experience in feeling on a primative, intuitive level. The observer becomes an active participant in the process where images evoke powerful feelings, perhaps even primal memories.

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