Craig McDowall lives in Maryland, but spent most of his life in Colorado. Craig is married to Cathy, and they have two adult offspring. As long as he can remember, drawing and creating art has been a motivating part of life. It was a major focus all through school, and art teachers were encouraging in their support. He attended Adams State University in Colorado, earning a Bachelor of Fine Art with concentrations in sculpture, drawing, and printmaking. Upon graduation McDowall displayed Images Within Seeing Distance, a solo art show highlighting his college work. ASU seniors are not required to have a final show before graduation, and those that do usually have a group show with several others.
Within two years of graduation, McDowall had his second solo exhibit, Another View, at the Penrose Public Library gallery, which featured an entirely new body of work, mostly sculpture.
About a year later he showed again at the Will Power exhibit, located at the Pikes Peak Community College downtown gallery. Those two solo shows were in Colorado Springs, where McDowall was beginning to grow an audience for his artwork. He exhibited widely in Colorado at juried and invitational exhibits.
Craig and Cathy lived for a spell in Texas. While there, he attended the San Antonio Art Institute as sort of an artist-in-residence, working closely with the sculpture department. There McDowall made Walk Don’t Walk and the outdoor installation, Solar Sundial, among others.
After Cathy finished her school in Texas, they moved to Olympia, Washington, where Craig quickly got involved in the art community. He taught drawing in an after-school program and worked with at-risk teens making sculpture. What was to be a six-week program became twelve and led to a student exhibit. He worked with another group of kids on a downtown mural project.
In Olympia, he was the finalist for a large outdoor sculpture commission, Constellation, which unfortunately fell through at the last minute. He next exhibited his fourth solo show Barriers, comprised entirely of sculpture, at the Pierce College Gallery in Tacoma, Washington.
Eventually, they made their way back to Colorado, living in Greeley. During those years, McDowall opened Anvil Graphics, offering graphic design, printing, web sites, and trade show products to regional businesses. He continues to run Anvil Graphics and works with a variety of clients.
In 2012, Craig and Cathy moved to Perryville, Maryland. McDowall has taken advantage of his new proximity to internationally renowned galleries by visiting and viewing as much artwork as possible. From Storm King in upstate New York, to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia, McDowall has been an art junkie, visiting at least twenty iconic museums, many multiple times.
Sketching is the foundation of all art, and besides continuing the Unintentional Night Club Series, McDowall does quite a lot of urban drawing of street scenes and buildings.
In October 2023, McDowall presented a new body of work including sculptures and drawings in the solo exhibit Elemental Forces, at the Elkton Station Gallery, located at Cecil College, Elkton, MD. Click to take a tour of the gallery or to view the new pieces created just for this exhibit.
McDowall plays guitar regularly, most recently jamming with a group of musicians at the American Legion in Havre de Grace.