February 15, 2024

Ask artists why they paint, and they’ll likely say it’s in their soul. Jerry Dowling is no exception to that, but his soul draws from two different continents. Hence the title of his new book, “The Brandywine Valley’s Irish Artist.” It’s who he is.

Dowling grew up in the Brandywine Valley, Kennett Township to be exact, but he’s called the Chadds Ford area his home for the last 50 years. He also honors his ethnic roots.

His parents were from Ireland, and he always heard stories about them when he was growing up. In 1992, he and his late wife Nancy made a trip to Ireland.

“I met these people [who I always heard about]. The first person we met was the person I dedicated the book to,” he said.

That woman was a cousin, RoseMay Lynn, who he calls “the matriarch.” There’s a photo of her in the book.

“I never realized I had so much family there. There were 15 first cousins, and they all had four to 10 kids, and they had kids, so it’s a big family.”

Dowling said he felt a sense of peace in Ireland.

“The people are so nice there. Total strangers would invite in for tea.

Dowling’s long-time friend Ro. Finn who collaborated on the book said, “Think of Ireland as a sanctuary.” She added that each of Dowling’s paintings is its own little sanctuary, taking the viewer into a sense of peace.

But there is the art family, too. Aside from painting with his late wife, there was his brother-in-law, Jimmy Lynch. Lynch was also an artist as well as a friend and model for Jamie Wyeth’s Draft Age. The leather jacket he wore in that painting was Dowling’s.

His arts lineage, the Brandywine Valley side of his soul, is tied to the Wyeths in other ways. He said Andy Wyeth would make useful comments, not direct critiques, of his work. And that link with the Wyeths includes studying with Karl Kuerner who was taught by Carolyn Wyeth. He’s also gotten advice from Anna B. McCoy, daughter of Ann Wyeth McCoy and John W. McCoy.

Finn said Dowling has two art homes, one in Ireland and the other in the Brandywine Valley.

Dowling began his journey into art by doing charcoal drawings in the late 1960s, he said, then got into watercolor later on when he and Nancy took a class at Neumann College. “That lit the fire,” he said. He then began studying with Kuerner at Darlington Arts Center.

Dowling and Finn each describe Dowling’s work as “retro” or “primitive.” Finn also used the terms nostalgic and narrative to describe the work.

As with many creative people, Dowling doesn’t always know why he does a certain painting. It just happens.

“A lot of times when I do my artwork it just flows other times not. I don’t know why. The Brandywine Farm came out more primitive than anything I usually do,” he said. “The buildings are more block-like, and the animals are more at attention. Only the cat on the barrel on the porch is relaxed. I did this one without any reference. I just painted what was in my head at the time.”

Included in the book are comments from Finn, but also from Kuerner and McCoy.

Kuerner said “When looking at a Dowling painting, you can be whisked away in an instant into a world that’s nostalgic or to a land you may never visit, but always a heartwarming experience…His paintings have a homespun style…His paintings are his open observations of life.”

For McCoy, “anything is possible” in Dowling’s world.

“…he is a believer in truths. No emotion escapes his keen eye, including the underbelly!… Jerry has woven all the great stories of life into every painting he has ever done….Above all, he is an honest painter.”

There are 127 pages of images, most by Jerry Dowling and some by Nancy. “The Brandywine Valley’s Irish Artist” sells for $48 and is available at Strode’s Mill Gallery and from Dowling website jerrydowlingart.com