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Cover Artist: Gretchen Weller Howard
AT HOME WITH NATURE
GRETCHEN WELLER HOWARD’S COLORFUL CREATIONS LEAVE A LASTING IMPRESSION
Perched above the banks of Little Bogue Falaya, among the magnolias, oaks, pines and cypress trees, sits the picturesque, architecturally-significant home and studio of artist Gretchen Weller Howard. Built by a Tulane architecture professor, the mid-century modern home is Howard’s refuge, a place where she can paint day or night and where she can be introspective with her artwork. Blanketed in the nature present in her work, it is hard not to be inspired by the tranquility and beauty of the grounds.
Open windows in Howard’s lightfilled studio invite a cool breeze, and the sounds of birds chirping fill the space where she creates her heavily layered, multifaceted works. A gold kinetic wind sculpture hanging just inside the windows reflects the sun, and light waltzes gracefully from painting to painting. “My paintings are predominantly light filled, either early light or dusk, those very personal moments where you are by yourself,” she said.
Howard’s art reflects her environment. Her colorful works feature the flora and fauna of the waterways and land that surrounds her. Beautiful birds, made up of a patchwork of patterns and color, reminiscent of a quilt, regularly appear in her pieces alongside oysters,
The space, first a dog run, then a workshop, was enclosed, updated and fitted with beautiful skylights by the artist. Three staghorn ferns spill downward from the skylights and look as though they could have been taken directly from one of Howard’s paintings. Separate from the home, the studio was tailormade for Howard to create the beautiful, symbolic and meaningful works that have defined her unique style as an artist. pearls, flowers, boats, rainbows and ladders. Howard describes herself as a symbolic colorist, and all of the symbols that appear in her work carry a deep meaning to her that is palpable and leaps from the canvas. For example, “Pearls represent possibility, which road will you go down, which life will you pick up?”
Howard’s inspiration comes not only from her surroundings but from her lived experiences. When Katrina hit, Howard evacuated the Pass Christian home where she lived at the time. When she returned, she discovered she had lost not only her home but nearly every possession, including her beloved art collection. “What kept me from being sad and informed my outlook was a story I heard immediately after the storm. A man was pulling his wife up into the attic and she said ‘I can’t’ and was swept away by the flood waters. I had only lost possessions,” she said.
But, by almost divine intervention, Howard found some of her paintings leaning against an oak tree near their property. The canvases were hardly in pristine condition; they were torn, tattered, waterlogged, and covered in the elements unearthed by the storm.
Amid the loss, Howard had an idea; she could use the damaged, waterlogged artwork as an element in new works. Determined to give the otherwise devastated and lost art new purpose and life, Howard incorporated fragments of the beloved paintings into her pieces, becoming tassels of celebration. “By reclaiming the artwork I loved, these little beautiful remnants, it was a way for me to give my father’s pieces and our collection back to the community,” she said.
Fine art is in Howard’s blood. Her father, Melvin “Dell” Weller was a staple in the New Orleans art scene and one of the founding teachers at the influential New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts. His style was traditional with a focus on oil on canvas, realist subjects and portraiture. Her mother was a painter and seamstress and was more of a free form colorist.
In some ways, Howard was influenced by her artist parents. In other ways, her artwork is a reaction to their work. “My dad would start a drawing with a line, and we would have to guess what the subject of the drawing was. That was my first experience with art,” she said. One of the most important things Howard learned from her parents is that “All artistic expression should be honored or explored. When you create art honestly, people respond.
Howard is able to see and capture the beauty of an otherwise chaotic world. She explains the feeling she tries to capture in every piece using a story from her travels: “I was in Venice and San Marcos square was completely covered in calm water, not a ripple on it. Then, all of a sudden this man with a Boxer throws a red ball, and the dog goes barreling through the water. The iconic architecture of the square, the church being reflected, it was this beautiful moment that I will never forget. If I can capture an iota of that feeling, that is what I am trying to do with every painting,” she said.
Howard utilizes all manner of media. Her studio is filled with paints and pencils, from Prisma to acrylic, oil pastels to crayons, and then there are more eclectic art supplies, like face paint, venetian plaster and raw umber glaze. It is using, mixing and layering these elements in a complex, detailed and time-consuming process that Howard creates an end result with the look and texture of an oil painting.
Howard’s lively works are at home amongst a myriad of color palettes; her art features a pastel-like color scheme that exudes a brightness and hopefulness that defines the artist herself. The rainbow of pastels, often juxtaposed against a white background and edges wrapped in color—“red for passion, orange for security”—are the perfect soothing and joyous statement.
Howard said she sees “color and shapes and patterns in everything.” And the way Howard depicts the colors and shapes around her on her canvas moves the viewer to attribute their own meaning to the work that creates personal connections to Howard’s own symbols.
This year, Howard was selected as the keynote artist of Art in Bloom, the New Orleans Museum of Art’s annual fundraiser and one of the most anticipated springtime events. Drawing on Art in Bloom’s 2023 theme, “Paradise Under the Palms,” Howard created a piece titled “Islanders.” In this work, Howard set out to capture the tranquility of island life, unobstructed by human interference. “Islanders” focuses on the natural world “that what was there before us.”
Reminiscent of her unique style, “Islanders” includes flora and fauna, each carrying a symbolic message. The hummingbirds “symbolize an ability to move and change at a moment’s notice and serve as a reminder to be flexible and go with the flow.” The stylized palmettos and hibiscus, for Howard, “represent Louisiana.” The banana “represents new growth.” Rain, a common element in her works, “symbolizes the childlike joy of running in the rain, a reminder to accept life and all its beauty in all its forms.” Howard describes the painting as “a moment; even though it is completely out of my head, it is about this one captured moment, visiting a paradise in your mind.”
“Islanders” will be auctioned to benefit the New Orleans Museum of Art. Art in Bloom will be held March 20-27.
