Archive Mode. Call Spring 2024 Art at the Mill ended on 2/26/24, 11:59 PM. Call settings are read only. See Current Open Calls

Freeman Dodsworth

Oil painter Freeman Dodsworth travels the back roads of his native Chesapeake Bay, painting the skies, clouds, fields and rivers that he finds along the way. A long time Calvert County resident, Dodsworth has also lived on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, where he attended Washington College and lived for several years after graduation. While there, he met legendary Eastern Shore painter Terry Wolf, who became his friend and mentor, teaching him the basics of oil painting and drawing (as well as crabbing, shooting, and other essential shore skillsets). Wolf, with his infectious enthusiasm and impeccable skills as a painter and teacher, sparked in Dodsworth a deep passion for making art, and in particular oil painting.

His art education with Wolf was interrupted though, when Dodsworth joined the U.S. Navy and headed for flight training in Pensacola, FL. That detour from painting lasted 25 years and included marriage and the rearing of two wonderful kids. But when his mentor Wolf passed away in 2017, Dodsworth was drawn back to the easel, where he has been ever since.

While the entirety of the outdoor world is his subject, boats and buildings that live and eventually crumble away within the living landscape are especially inspiring to Dodsworth, bringing to mind (as they must) the transitory nature of things. “I am drawn to places where nature is reclaiming its space, slowly and inexorably”, he says. “I also love buildings of all kinds, with their angles and shapes and the human history that accompanies them through their long lives.” His paintings are all from life, either painted while in the moment, or from sketches and studies he captures while in the field.

Dodsworth has won multiple awards for both plein air and studio work in juried shows and competitions. In addition to his initial apprenticeship under Wolf, Dodsworth has studied under contemporary masters Kami Mendlik, Joe Paquet and Nancy Tankersley, among others. His work hangs in many private collections as well as commercial institutions around the country. He is represented by North End Gallery in Leonardtown, MD and the Artists’ Gallery in Chestertown, MD.