Dale Bowen
Dale was born in Staffordshire in 1963 and now paints from his studio in Dorset. Always interested in painting from an early age he went on to study art at Newcastle-under-Lyme College. Dale is a master potter & has worked in the industry for over 20 years, firstly for Coalport China and then for Wedgwood for the last 15 years. Working for Wedgewood in the Prestige Department, he created many one-off pieces for the collectors market and commissions. Many of these pieces were highly decorated and exclusive, fetching in some cases in excess of £100,000. More recently he gained a master's degree in ceramics at Staffordshire University and exhibited privately in New York, Washington and San Francisco, including an Exclusive Masterpiece Collection in Japan for Wedgwood.
Individually commissioned pieces include one for Coalport’s 250th anniversary, the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday celebrations, the Battle of Trafalgar 200-year’s celebrations at Portsmouth Naval Museum and also a plaque of the same event presented to Her Majesty on board Victory at the same event. His pieces are exhibited in museums in the USA, Japan and the UK.
Says Dale, “When painting I like to use a variety of mediums as I feel the need to experiment and master as many methods as possible. I sometimes work from crude sketches as well as photographs as a varied approach allows for more creativity."
"Creativity comes from a number of different sources, observations or even conversations, inspiration always surprises me in the ever unusual ways it catches me. Although working in the pottery industry for so long and being creative with clay, it is always the joy of painting that is my first love and keeps me returning to canvas."
"The creative process in art is self-propelling and sometimes all consuming, it comes in waves and has forever altered the way in which I view my surroundings.”