A Life of Music and Color Oldfield Bowles lived a life that balanced the quiet rhythms of music with the visual textures of paint. Born in 1739 in Hampshire, England, he was a man of many talents, finding expression both as an amateur painter and a musician. His world was centered around North Aston in Oxfordshire, a place where his creative pursuits could unfold away from the larger pressures of the London art scene. His personal life was closely tied to the people he painted. He married Mary Elton, the daughter of Sir Abraham Isaac Elton, and much of his legacy is found in the intimate po…