On Howard Partridge’s website, www.cupola.com, he quotes the poem “Kubla Khan,” written by the eighteenth-century Romantic poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge: “I would build that dome in air, / That
sunny dome!” That “sunny dome” refers to the cupola, a small, ornamental structure set on top of a roof. Cupolas are a special interest of Howard’s, and serve as links between the past and the present. Howard’s art is firmly rooted in the technology of digital media and manipulation, but also looks back on history, blending the two in a series of evolving iterations.
Howard Partridge is a visual artist who works in digital and mixed media, as well as photography. History is an important part of Howard’s work; he aims to create new things from a past body of work. In his artist’s statement, he writes “the idea of taking something old and reworking it, or putting it in a new context, is a frequent theme in [my] creations.” Some pieces have evolved for over thirty years, including a color study Howard made with Magic Markers years ago, which he subsequently scanned into digital art programs. The original colors, with all of their gradations, give the work the 
imperfect touch that Howard strives for.
A photograph, or more often, a drawing, is just the start for Howard. From that point, he
alters the original, bringing out some new, surprising element. He looks for the surreal, placing his subjects outside of their usual settings. He prefers to make art that feels timeless; since the presence of people can date a work, Howard generally leaves them out. This approach emphasizes his creative fusion of the past and the present. Howard’s fascination with buildings, a link to his career as an architect, is also apparent in much of his work.
By the time he was in first grade, Howard knew he wanted to be an architect, already seeing at this early age the possibilities of combining art with building things. He even liked the word “architect.” As he progressed in school, he managed to include buildings, and the history of buildings, wherever he could. He attended the University of Illinois, where he excelled in his studies, graduating with high honors and spending his senior year in Versailles, France. “Architecture is one of the fine arts,” Howard states. Architects take drawing and watercolor classes, and are required to keep sketchbooks. When Howard returned from Versailles, his sketchbook was full.
Howard learned Computer Assisted Design (CAD) before many of his peers, and credits at least some of his professional success to his early adoption of computer tools. Though almost all architectural drawings are now done on computers, there was much resistance from older architects, who valued the craft of hand drawings. Howard runs his own consulting business, using his expertise with architecture and computers to assist his clients in the building industry with technical questions and with customizing programs. Since Howard’s business is cyclical, he devotes more time to art in the late fall and winter months when construction typically slows down, and less time in spring and summer, when it picks up again..jpg)
From artists and photographers as diverse as Kandinsky, Klee, Scott Mutter and Arthur Tress, Howard finds both inspiration and a common theme. He is also very fond of the architecture ranging from late Queen Anne to Art Deco, drawing inspiration from the early beginnings of Modernism. Creative people run in his family; his cousin is the writer P. C. Hodgell, his aunt was a professional artist, and musical talent runs on his mother’s side. His father is an engineer and an inventor, and moved the family briefly from Wisconsin to Silicon Valley. When Howard graduated from college, he moved to California to seek employment, and has lived in the San Jose area ever since.
“Art gives me energy. I do it because I enjoy it,” Howard states. “It would be great to have more time to devote to it.” He is particularly drawn to cemeteries, old buildings, and cupolas, those endearing little domes featured on the tops of mainly historical, but also a few modern, buildings. Modern architects dismiss cupolas as purely ornamental, but Howard points out their value: they are attractive, distinctive, and they let in light and air.
Howard Partridge’s website, www.cupola.com, gives information on where to see buildings with cupolas, their history, and how to build them. Howard also runs the site Cupola Creations, the place to view his gallery of mixed media artworks and learn more about his philosophy and practice. He is a member of Silicon Valley Arts Collaborative.
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