The shop is now open!

Super excited to announce that I have finally gotten around to setting up the Etsy shop I’ve been daydreaming about for at least a year. I returned yesterday—utterly inspired—from a long weekend in the Great Smoky Mountains, where I was surrounded by such lovely and talented people. Today I woke up determined that TODAY is the day that this is getting done.

And so it was. Yay!

Right now, I just have about eight of my older, smaller works posted (at exceedingly reasonable prices, I might add), in an effort to clear out some space in le studio. I plan to add lots more new stuff as soon as I get comfy with the shipping logistics and all that stuff. There looks to be a learning curve, and I’ll to spend some time acclimating to the Etsy ways.

Pretty jazzed about it though. 🙂 Go check it out!

 

Advertisement

New York, New Yoooooork

Have I ever mentioned my day job? I ‘m a graphic designer in the marketing and communications department of a large law firm. I’m bringing this up now because one of the attorneys I work with recently commissioned three paintings for the office in Manhattan. This one, bearing the working title Le Big One–NYC, measures 42″ x 42″. It’ll be the focal point opposite the reception desk in the lobby. I took progress shots along the way, because, hey– that’s fun, right? I like to look back at earlier stages and layers to see how it developed and evolved– it’s a bit like archaeology, in a way…

So as you can see, I started out layering in various papers–including maps–and blocked off areas with a little oil paint. I then worked in a few gel transfers and more paint (rinse & repeat) until I was satisfied with the result.

But the real take away here is that I’m going to have paintings on display in New York City. (pause to let that sink in.) Also, the beloved attorney that commissioned the works sent this to me via email: “To have personal, original, meaningful work from within the family in our space is priceless.” That brings a l’il tear to my eye, it does.

The Even Better News is that my BFF coincidentally just moved to the Lower East Side, and I’m going up to visit her this spring. We’ll take a jaunty little hike up to Midtown East and pop in to see my work in its shiny new home.

Cheers to that!

And hey,  –thanks for stopping by. Got any questions about my methods and techniques? Ask away!

Want to see more of my mixed media gel transfer art-making shenanigans? Yeah, ya do– click it.

Because cats!

So far looks like 2014 is Year of the Cat– Because Cats! Above, for my BFF, Joel–  a portrait of his cats in color pencil and framed up nice. I tried something new here with the stylized fur texture and negative space, and I do like the way it turned out. And then below, I drew these cats for the local feral rescue organization– they’re having a Mardi Gras-themed fundraiser next month. I’ve designed the poster using this drawing and will also be donating the original watercolor/ink to the silent auction.

Otherwise, I have been working on a few other things that are not cats or cat-related. Because I do sometimes draw other stuff. Stay tuned!

The gardenkeeper

My dad was a landscape artist. He created a lovely natural oasis in the backyard complete with fish ponds, waterfalls, and brick-lined paths. There was a covered swing, and birdfeeders, and lots and lots of daylillies. I draw bears whenever I miss him, because he was very much like a bear. He was shaped like one, and he could be gruff when hungry or irritated, and downright fierce if his family was threatened. He also had a soft side–a warm and tender and cuddly, huggy side, and a very big heart.

This is my final project for Eccentric Illustration; the theme was “Evoking Emotion.” The timing was uncanny, falling around the first anniversary of losing my dad.

11.26.54 — 12.13.12

 

The Chaise Chase: A True Story

Based on a true story, only the upholstery has been changed to protect the identity of the um… furniture. When my cats twitch and chirp in their sleep, this is what I think they’re dreaming about– an amalgamation of the familiar domestic interior and the instinctual memory of the African wilderness, carried in their blood since they were big cats roaming the steppes.

The assignment was to depict time, space and motion using any media and any subject matter. The two groupings in the background give the otherwise flat picture a sense of depth and time– this chase has been going on for a long time and has covered much ground. I am rather fond of the chairaffes* under the tree.

My instructor liked it rather well, and gave me my highest marks so far. He does point out that the cat in the bottom left is awkward, but dude— cats in motion are so hard to draw. Like, so hard… particularly this winding-up, pre-springing pose. He has no idea how many cats I drew this week… not that I’m complaining, mind you.

*See what I did there?

Transformation

The first project for my Eccentric Illustration class at AAU: depict “transformation” using a style you’ve never done before. So linocut seemed like a good medium for exploring the transformation of the American landscape and the decimation of our indigenous tribal culture… y‘know, because Columbus Day is right around the corner and it seemed like a good time to bring that up.

I got a little reckless with my cutting, and what has been cut can never be uncut… so I had to do some problem solving with my trusty collage techniques. I’m rather pleased with the outcome, and I learned a great deal about my process.

For me, art is about transforming a breakdown into a breakthrough. Every piece I make goes through an “ugly phase” when I want to either start over, abandon it, or even destroy it. But if I watch that struggle and even embrace it without being attached to the outcome, and just keep pushing– I’ll come out the other side with something true and beautiful. Life is like that too.

Winter’s Night in 6 parts

This is Winter’s Night, a 36″ x 36″ mixed media on canvas, a recently completed commission. My client jokingly asked for weekly progress text updates, and I happily obliged– I thought it’d make great blog fodder. So here it is, an original Angie Brown abstract in 6 steps:

Gotta start somewhere.

  Taking shape. There’s quite a bit of work between the first shot and this. It must’ve been a long weekend. I’ve defined my black areas and my whites, and taped up some of paper elements to see how I feel about them.

The paper elements have been glued down, and now I’ve added a bit of frayed canvas that I distressed with an Xacto knife, and ripped away part of the paper I glued down the previous week.

Here, I’ve added quite a few new collage elements including fabrics, photocopies, an orphaned sketch of a metro area, and some found and altered papers.

Horrible photo, my apologies. I’ve added the black area above the “horizon” in the top right corner to balance the left. Added a few more drips, which I didn’t like…

Angie Brown © 2013 | Winter’s Night

And the final, taken with a camera that does not also text and make calls. Click the image to enlarge.

all the king’s men

Angie Brown | All the King’s Men

This week the topic posted on Illustration Friday is egg. I’m pulling one from the archives, since I just moved to a new apartment and have no idea where any of my supplies are, I’m exhausted and there are still boxes EVERYWHERE. So instead of a fresh and newly hatched artwork, you get this finely aged piece of dimensional collage, entitled All the King’s Men, which incorporates actual eggshells (that crumbly texture on the right.) It was done during my poured acrylic drippy phase, circa 2010-ish. I believe the crackle texture in the top right happened when I painted acrylic over semi-dry raw egg ooze. It’s a bit of a dark take on the ol’ Humpty Dumpty thing, but you probably figured that out already from the context clues, didn’t ya? Yeah, you’re smart, that’s why I like you. And you have great taste in blogs. 😉

As always, thanks for stopping by, commenting and following. I try to at least take a quick peek at everybody who leaves their mark here, and even if I don’t get a chance to respond, it’s very much appreciated. I’m very glad you’re here.

Mermaids Communicate Via Shell Phone

Angie Brown | Mermaids Communicate Via Shell Phone

I’ve been meaning to post this one for a while– and conveniently, this weeks Illustration Friday is swim. So viola!

Mermaids Communicate Via Shell Phone    48″ x 24″ oil on canvas.

This is a commission that I completed last month. It posed an interesting challenge, of how to paint a naked mermaid without exposing or drawing attention to her nakedness. So I gave her something to do– and solved the problem with a pun. Like all teenagers, she’s practically glued to her mobile device.

Her face looks better when it’s zoomed in a bit. Go ahead, click on it. It’s not the best photo in the world, my apologies.

In other news, sheesh, have I been busy, or what? I am putting together a portfolio to try to get into an upper level illustration class at an online art school. But more about that another day. Among other things, I’ve also been working steadily on the two children’s books, Square Dog, Round World and Annabelle & the Bear, and I’m blogging my little heart out for Illustration Friday. My next post will go live at 9:00 a.m. EST tomorrow. That’s generally the time slot I’ve adopted for my weekly artist feature. I’m still sort of random here  and the Square Dog blog, because that’s how I generally roll.

Questions? Comments? Accolades? I’d love to hear ’em. Go ahead– poke me in the comments. 🙂

a background with no foreground

angie brown | piove sul bagnato

This week’s Illustration Friday topic is “yesterday“. So I think of nostalgia, history, memories… I think of Italy. I fell in love with Italy a few years ago, the culture, the language, the art… and one architect in particular. His name was Angelo. He met and married someone else, and I realized that I was just painting empty backgrounds with no foregrounds.

This painting is typical of the work I was doing back then. It’s called Piove sul Bagnato, which is how the Italians say “when it rains, it pours.” It’s one of the last paintings I did in the Italian architecture series.

I moved on.

I’ve been exploring mixed media collage for a while– you can see more of that on my portfolio site, and now I’m learning character-based illustration.

Sometimes, though, I still miss Angelo.