Plums on Folk Box

Born in 1966 in Groveland, Massachusetts, Charles Nowell began drawing and painting early and started formal lessons with artist Scott Jackson at age ten, continuing through high school. After graduating, he pursued academic training with Boston School painter Paul Ingbretson, studying figure drawing and still life during the year while returning home in summers to paint landscapes with Jackson. In 1989, Jackson introduced him to still-life painter Sidney Willis, whose influence helped push Nowell toward a more vibrant palette and a looser, more impressionistic approach.

That same year, Nowell’s professional career gained momentum when he was accepted into the Enrico Donati Gallery in Newburyport, and by twenty-three he was supporting himself through sales of still lifes and landscapes. He went on to exhibit with galleries throughout New England, including Peel Gallery in Vermont, Blue Heron Gallery on Cape Cod, and J. Todd Galleries in Wellesley. In 1993, Blue Heron Gallery hosted his first solo show, which sold out, and he continued showing there regularly for years. In 2019, Nowell began shifting away from still life to explore new techniques and return to landscape painting full time, focusing today on Maine and New England scenes and traveling for subject matter.