Across his career, Jamie Howard produced many watercolors ranging in size and subject matter. These works often illustrated Sommerville, the imaginary setting of his short story The Day of the Wedding and Part of the Night Before. The images were painted in the story by the character “Margaret Foster.”

Jamie Howard was inspired by Japanese watercolors as well as works by German Expressionists, many of whom he met as a child living in post-war Berlin.

He developed his own method and unique style of watercolor painting which he called “Muzzing” named after his grandmother. The method involves using watercolor paint as a stain or wash on the paper rather than a paint covering. In this method, layers were built upon similarly to how oil paint is applied. Due to the translucent nature of watercolor paint, this method produces a depth effect in the image itself. Early images compared to later ones show us a development of increasing fine detail and control in regards to his technique.

The earliest watercolors recorded from Howard are dated 1972. Over the next three decades, he continue to invent methods and produce work resulting in over a thousand unique images of varying scenes and subject matter. The development and variation of themes show an immense imagination. These themes usually revolved around events occurring in “Sommerville”.

Currently, the collection contains 51 original watercolor paintings by Jamie Howard. Some of the most notable examples from the collection are shown above.

If you own a watercolor by Jamie Boswell Howard or have information on a work, we encourage you to contact us so that we may add your piece to the growing database of known works. You may contact the collection through the contact page.