October 2026 Newsletter

NEW WORK!

Signs of Life

Joanne Stowell - Signs of Life - Oil on Wood - 12"x12"

Learn more about this painting here

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After another busy month in the studio, one more Beautiful Mundanity painting is now complete. This one is much smaller than the large bathroom scene that I completed a couple of months ago - at only 12"x12" it is one of the smallest of the series. It's small but mighty! Small pieces like this show that a painting doesn't need to be large to make an impact. And this little painting was exactly what I needed to reset and refresh after months of working on a large piece.

Signs of Life is currently reserved for framing, but it can be available for pre-order by replying to this email. Prints are also available through my print-on-demand shop.

The Story Behind Signs of Life

It was just a regular morning. I was walking into the kitchen to make my tea, just like I do every morning. The sun was shining through the kitchen window. Nothing out of the ordinary. Except that this time, I stopped to look.

The sunlight spilled across our brick wall. The color was vivid. It trickled down onto the pears and bananas in the fruit bowls. Little bits of light reflected off our family photos and the jar of shells we collected on a family vacation.

These are all the little things that make a house feel like a home. They are the signs that people live here - not just exist here - but I hadn't stopped to look at them in so long.

It took that sunlight pouring through the window to get me to pause long enough to pay attention.

Sometimes that's all it takes.

NEW In The Leftovers Series

Along with Signs of Life, I also completed two new Leftovers paintings this past month. Like the others in the series, Vortex and Morph were created entirely from the leftover paint from my larger works—in this case, every bit of paint came from Signs of Life.

Although they share the same source, the experience of creating each painting couldn't have been more different. It's always fascinating to see how two paintings born from the exact same palette can end up with entirely different personalities.

Vortex came first and seemed to reveal itself almost immediately. Within the first few scrapes of paint, I could feel the movement of wind and rain taking shape across the panel. The energy was there from the very beginning, and the title came naturally.

Morph, on the other hand, got its name from changing from one potential painting to another several times before it finally let me know it was finished. You can still see many of those earlier stages peeking through the layers of paint. The colors kept changing, the texture kept growing, and it kept me guessing right until the very end. In the end, all of those changes became part of the painting's story and I couldn't be happier with where it landed.

Vortex and Morph are both available for purchase through my website.

Vortex - Oil on wood - 12"x8"

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Vortex - texture details

Morph - Oil on wood - 7.5"x6.25"

Purchase here

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Morph - texture details

EXHIBITIONS

Solo Exhibition Continues

My next solo exhibition, Being Human, remains on view through October. This exhibition brings together recent paintings from my Beautiful Mundanity series, along with a selection of works from my Leftovers series.

Creative Connections

56 Main St, Ashburnham, MA

More info here

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Didn't make the reception?

Want to see what else I've been working on?

STOP BY DURING FITCHBURG OPEN STUDIOS!

Fitchburg Open Studios is a self-guided art tour of artist studios and pop-up locations in Fitchburg and the surrounding towns. This year I will be set up, with my easel and some works in progress, at Creative Connections, right in the middle of my exhibition.

Saturday and Sunday, October 17-18

12-5pm

I would love to see you there!

Get the full tour map at www.fitchburgopenstudios.com

CLASSES

So many new classes coming up!

So many classes are coming up this fall and winter. Whether you're picking up a paintbrush for the first time or have been creating for years, there's something for every age and experience level.

Classes include:

-Oil painting series - STARTING NEXT WEEK!

-Acrylic workshops - FALL LANDSCAPE WORKSHOP NEXT WEEKEND!

-Figure drawing

-Teen independent class - STARTING SOON!

-Advanced painting series

All classes will be held at New Dawn Arts Center in Ashburnham, MA.

For class details and registration, visit the News page on my website:

www.joannestowellart.com/news

You can also register directly through New Dawn Arts Center:

www.newdawnarts.org/current-programming

I WOULD LOVE YOUR FEEDBACK!

Would you be willing to help me? If you've purchased one of my paintings or taken one of my classes, I'd be so grateful if you could share a few words about your experience. If you'd like to send along a photo of your artwork displayed in your home - or something you've created in one of my classes - I would absolutely love to see it.

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