Farmer's Market Picnic is among several digital images inspired by the markets in California.  Rowena was working in Washington DC and lived through the effects of 9/11.  She also was on the Gulf Coast when Hurricane Katrina struck. "These events ignited a drive in me...my art just comes now, almost without effort.  If I dwell on the effort, the artwork suffers." For eighteen months after Katrina Rowena lived in the Central Valley of California. She produced many paintings and digital images that reflect life in the fields and valleys. She now lives near Boston and currently has work on view at the Fitchburg Art Museum. To contact the artist send email to row@graphizzart.com
Wind Dancer, this image is one of a series of based on photographs taken at the ranch belonging to Rowena's family where she was able to walk in the fields and enjoy the daily life of Central Valley growers. Her experience in the Central Valley was a means of distancing herself from the horrors of Katrina. Rowena Bowman is originally from New Orleans. She spent 1991-2001 in Washington D.C. working with a variety of media including fiber art and computer graphics.  She worked in studio space at Glen Echo Park. She took part in special events at the Kennedy Center, the Children's Museum, and the Women's Museum as a Chalk Festival Artist creating in chalk as the public watched.  Glen Echo was also a place where the public could watch as artists worked.  "I love interacting with people as I work. It makes the creative experience one they can relate to." While in Washington D.C., Rowena developed a personal style through mixed media and digital graphics.  Each composition is produced in several stages with a variety of traditional and modern studio techniques.	After Hurricane Katrina claimed her computer equipment, Rowena's artwork took on a different look...bolder and more emotional.  The trauma of the hurricane and the long aftermath became her subject matter.  She switched to textured paper collages which reflect the devastation of the storm on the communities of the Gulf Coast.  In the long months of the rebuilding process, Rowena's art became a celebration of the die-hard spirit of the locals, people who were living in rubble night and day.  The two works here are collages of textured paper.  The one above is titled Lost Pal, it honors the many pets that were left behind after their owners evacuated.  To the left is Storm Surge,representing the destruction of the tidal wave that swept inland 12 miles.  In September 2006, Rowena was selected as the only visual artist among many performing artists from Louisiana and Mississippi, who were honored at the Kennedy Center's Open House as Survivors of Katrina.  The event marked an opportunity to move on...and California was the first stop.  She had her first solo show at the Fresno Regional Foundation in the heart of the Central Valley. Returning to the East Coast in 2008, Rowena feels more at home near Boston and DC.  "There is something different about the people and the culture.  It feels like New Orleans."  At present, Rowena has work on exhibit at the Fitchburg Art Museum.  She is taking time to settle into her environment and lives in a renovated mill.