Freeman Dodsworth

Freeman Dodsworth is a painter who lives in Port Republic, Maryland. He began his training under accomplished Eastern Shore artist Terry Wolf in the 1980’s. He worked with Wolf for three years and then left the shore for a career in the US Navy. The Navy took him around the world, but away from his art. In 2017, his mentor Wolf passed away, and his death spurred Freeman to get back to the easel. “Terry gave me the gift of painting, and when he died, I felt I needed to get going if I ever wanted to grow into the painter I want to be. And I did it, in part, to honor Terry.” Since then, he has painted consistently, training one-on-one with master painters including Peter Fiore and Kami Mendlik as well as others.

Freeman works primarily in oils, enjoying the traditional techniques and materials of the great masters. He often makes his own foundations of panel or canvas, and even crafts many of the frames for his paintings. “Painting for me is first and foremost a craft, like any other. There are materials, tools and processes for using them. I am continually learning the craft, and that will never end. The art, that illusive capture of a moment of beauty, will need to find me.”  

The woods and fields of Maryland provide the inspiration for many of Freeman’s paintings, as do the local creeks, rivers and marinas. He mixes his time between outdoor painting and working in the studio, but with every painting he seeks light, shadow and dramatic shapes that convey a story.