Marlene Lowden

About Marlene Lowden

Lowden grew up in an ocean side rural town on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, just outside of Vancouver, Canada. She remembers always having a keen interest in painting, drawing and photography. She studied video production and worked in that industry for a number of years before returning to her early love of paint. The ocean, forest and mountains of the West Coast are a consistent source of inspiration, however, there is a stronger influence underlying her work. She has had a lifelong interest in women’s history, especially women in art and literature. She has particularly been drawn to the women of the Abstract Expressionist movement that developed in the 1940’s. Their pushback against the macho world of mid-20th century abstract painting and the subsequent rise of the Feminist Art Movement in the 1960’s has been influential on Lowden’s signature mark making style. She strives for hand made gestures, celebrates imperfection and pushes past the boundaries of outdated social codes that equate feminine with neat, tidy and pretty. Painting is an act of liberation and she allows the process to ultimately create the meaning behind her work. Lowden is also a facilitator and yoga teacher. She co-hosts art and yoga retreats called Open Your Art with painter, Marleen Vermeleun in Spain. She offers workshops and has published an adult colouring book called “Outside Your Lines.” She enjoys sharing her philosophy of art making and reaches out as much as she can. She lives and works in her home town, Gibsons, B,C, Canada. She is honoured to have work in private collections in Canada and the United States. You can follow her process on Instagram.