From New Orleans to Panama City to Costa Rica to Wetumpka, Dow Harris is a traveler at heart, and his art has evolved with his travels.
Harris first became interested in art while a student at Savannah College of Art and Design. Initially, he was in a theater program, but that turned into more design projects and films, and that’s when his art really started to take off.
In 2008, Harris left Savannah and traveled to Panama City, Panama. He traveled to New Orleans, then Austin, Texas, and then sold the van in Brownsville, Texas.
“I literally hiked to Mexico with my dog and my backpack,” Harris said. “I went to the Panama Canal, hitchhiked and took a bus.”
Eventually, Harris ran out of money and went to Costa Rica, where he spent two years working on digital design projects, including websites.
But it was in Costa Rica that his current art really developed.
“At some point, my computer started not working properly,” Harris said. “I was in the jungle, creatively frustrated, and I thought, ‘Okay, I’m going to start painting using whatever I can find.'” I used what was described as oil-based crayons. I started developing a new style using it. ”
He began to develop a body of work and also debuted in the first show. Mr. Harris’ style is what he describes as “magic realism.”
“The idea is that the characters and settings are realistic, but there are also outlandish and imaginative elements that are not of this world or time,” Harris said.
After developing a few jobs and gaining some traction, Harris left Costa Rica and sought to make a name for himself on the West Coast of the United States, eventually landing in Santa Barbara.
There, he participated in weekly art walks on the beach and became a judge of sorts.
Eventually, Harris returned to Alabama to care for his family and took a job in advertising at Tallapoosa Publishers. This will allow him to connect with his Wetumpka community and will debut his own art at his artist show downtown on May 18th.
Harris’ current series of art uses vibrant pastels on black card stock. All of his works are freehand. He doesn’t track anything.
“I switched to black paper because I found that the colors seemed to pop out from black, unlike white,” Dow said. “I liked it.”