Biography

MJ Dowling was born in upstate New York in 1964.  Having grown up surrounded by the Adirondack Mountains and 2,800 lakes and ponds, her love for the outdoors was instilled at a very early age.  Growing up, MJ was inspired by both her mother’s love for painting and her father’s passion for construction.  Given these influences, she was naturally drawn to the study of both Art and Architecture and subsequently pursued a Bachelor’s of Architecture degree at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, PA.  While at CMU, MJ also Minored in Art and took numerous classes in Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture.  Upon graduating in 1987, she was commissioned as an Officer in the US Air Force and began a twenty-year journey serving her country as a Registered Architect. During this time, MJ both lived in and visited numerous countries around the world and developed a passion for both environmental and urban design.   Following her military service, MJ worked as an Architect in private practice for seven years before moving to Florida in 2015.

MJ's abstract aerial paintings explore the relationship between the built and natural environments, focusing on patterns, colors, and shapes.  Her paintings often contrast the structure of the built environment with the fluidity of the natural landscape while capturing the essence of a place through the use of color, geometry, and motion. Merging her technical skills and unique interpretation of physical environments, her paintings bring a bold new approach to capturing the “spirit” of a place in contemporary artwork.  MJ's three decades of experience as an Architect, and passion for environmental and urban design, are clearly evident in her coastal abstract paintings.  

MJ splits her time between the coastal community of Sewall’s Point, FL and the Adirondack Mountain hamlet of Brantingham Lake, NY.

MJ Dowling