A. D. Bowen

Writing, art, and notes from where I sit.

Art

I draw and paint what is in front of me: streets, buildings, glass, machinery, interiors, and the odd arrangements that happen when ordinary objects share a space.

Watercolor and ink painting of a narrow brick building at a Market Street corner in Chattanooga.
Market Street, Chattanooga — watercolor and ink

From Where I Sit

I have always drawn, though for years I treated art as something I did around more serious work. I no longer make that distinction.

From Where I Sit is a practical rule: begin with the place where I am, look carefully, and make something from it.

Selected work

The work moves between watercolor, gouache, mixed media, and pen and ink. Architecture and place provide the spine; interiors, objects, and landscape widen the view.

Color sketchbook drawing of a chair, side table, mug, window, and doorway in a sunlit interior.
Chair by the Window — mixed media
Detailed black-and-white pen-and-ink drawing of a tractor between farm buildings and trees.
Farmyard with Tractor — pen and ink
Watercolor painting of blue, white, and violet hydrangeas arranged in a blue-and-white vase against a black background.
Hydrangeas in a Blue-and-White Vase — watercolor
Watercolor and ink painting of the historic Fort Wood building framed by a lamppost and trees.
Fort Wood, Chattanooga — watercolor and ink
Black-and-white ink drawing looking uphill toward an ornate historic building between city structures.
Building at the Top of the Hill — pen and ink
Color sketchbook drawing of Chattanooga's Warehouse Row beneath a broad yellow and blue sky.
Warehouse Row, Chattanooga — mixed media
Panoramic watercolor landscape with a dark foreground tree and fence overlooking fields and blue mountains.
East Tennessee Landscape — watercolor
Watercolor and ink sketchbook painting of red and blue chairs gathered around tables on a shaded patio.
Café Chairs — watercolor and ink
Expressive mixed-media cityscape contrasting an older brick building with modern glass towers.
Old and New — mixed media

Materials

Paint

I work primarily in watercolor and gouache. Both reward speed and decisiveness, then punish the belief that either quality guarantees success.

Line

Pen and ink remain central, particularly when I am drawing architecture, glass, metal, or any surface complicated enough to make me slow down.

Recognition

  • First Place, Adult Division — Preserve Chattanooga, 2025

For exhibition, purchase, or collaboration inquiries, please use the contact page.

Contact