Howard’s Unique Style Hiding in Plain Sight

Jul 01, 2023

Dennis Howard enjoyed going to school in Grapevine when he was young only because he liked his art classes. A teacher encouraged him to practice art and his first exhibit showed in the school library when he was 12. Sixty years later he’s taken many art classes and still creates beautiful works at age 72.

Nowadays his mixed media works are on display at the Edom Art House, Modern Country Art Gallery in Winnsboro, the gift shop at Winnsboro Center For the Arts, and on several murals in Wood County.

Howard also enters 10 to 12 art shows each year. This year he’s the featured artist at the Harvest Moon Art Festival in Granbury on October 28 and 29. He also shows at the Winnsboro Art & Wine Festival on November 10 and 11.

Favorite subjects include landscapes, florals, and musical instruments. He creates each work in layers using mixed media. He often starts with liquid inks then applies acrylics and modeling paste for texture. Sometimes he adds a clear pour epoxy to make the surface look like glass.

Bold colors and abstract forms dominate Howard’s art, which bears influences from famous artists of the early 20th century — Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, and more.

He paints in a vibrant and sometimes whimsical style that seems to come from many directions and sources all at once. His figures are abstract but identifiable.

“I’m considered what you’d call an outsider artist,” Howard says, referring to his eclectic style.

“What a Hoot” was inspired by a fellow artist who painted a similar owl very plainly. Howard added vibrant color, texture, and geometric shapes to create his own interpretation. In some large paintings Howard includes hidden figures that become apparent when viewers study the works closely.

“I did this one similarly with an abstract twist,” Howard says. “I like to do paintings that hold people’s attention.”

After graduating from school Howard enlisted in the US Army and served three years during the Vietnam War. Afterward he studied art at Central Texas College in Killeen before deciding to move to upstate New York, where he studied at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He worked and sold art for 45 years before moving back to Texas to avoid the bitter winters.

Settling in Winnsboro seven years ago landed Howard in the vibrant local art scene, but building his reputation locally still required some legwork.

Recent commissions with the Wood County Walls project are putting his art in plain sight on the walls of downtown Mineola and Winnsboro — sometimes as collaborations with other artists. As Howard’s reputation continues to grow it won’t be long before more folks recognize his unique style. Visit this link to his Facebook business page, Art by Dennis Howard.

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