Blue Ridge Mountain Memories

| johndavidbrown3

Here is the part of my blog where I write more about a series of paintings I have worked on. Today’s topic: Blue Ridge Mountain Memories.

Earlier this year, I had the awesome opportunity to show my artwork in the amazing town hall space in Morganton, North Carolina through a program they call Art in the Hall.

I took this as an opportunity to put together a new collection of paintings I had been sketching which I lovingly referred to as my Blue Ridge Mountain Memories. As a resident of Western North Carolina, I am very lucky to be quite close to the Blue Ridge Mountains and am always awed and inspired by their beauty.  

Each Blue Ridge Mountain Memories painting features rolling mountains and hills in blues and greens. These majestic mountains create a calm grounding presence. Each piece also features a subject of a farm person with an animal friend, a musician playing a traditional instrument, or native wildlife exploring the view. While I specifically worked on 12 pieces for the Morganton Art in the Hall, I expect there will be a few more Blue Ridge Mountain Memories popping up from time to time. 

Twilight Time

| johndavidbrown3

I’m not exactly sure why I like to work in a series when I paint. It just sort of happens. They become a glimpse into my where I am on my art journey. My latest series of paintings originated from wanting to paint a white bird, flying in a sky, full of stars, in a different color combination than dark blues. I love the turquoise/teal sky, and butter yellow stars with highlights in a warm brown. It was very pleasing to me, calming. So I decided to try some other pieces, a sleepy cat, a dog, another dog, and a moon. Then a few more. There’s something both refreshing and peaceful, with this color combination. It feels like the magic of twilight. No wonder many of these characters are sleepy looking.
Twilight Time.

Sweet Twilight Moon.
Sleepy Cat. This size canvas is fairly unique for this series.
A small sleepy bunny. Of course there is a bunny.
The Sleepy Whale
An Owl in a Tree. Trying a more of a scene with this one.
Also a bit of a combination of my “Color-Trees and Twilight Time series.

Words and Pictures, New Works by John David Brown, III

| johndavidbrown3

I am so excited for the opportunity to share some of my newest art pieces on the walls of Carolina Vines in downtown Newton , North Carolina. The exhibit features 14 new works. They are acrylic on heavy stock paper, framed and ready to hang! The canvas size is 18” x 24“ although the frames themselves vary in width.

I have recently been combining my love of painting with my love of hand-lettering. And the result is this collection of paintings with statements. I hope they bring a smile to your face! All of these are for sale at Carolina Vines. It is a wonderful excuse to come to downtown Newton and visit this lovely business, have a glass of wine, and check out the artwork! Maybe even find a piece or two that you want to bring home with you!

I also have several pieces on wood! Including these cats and owls.

Words and Pictures will be on display through April 7, 2022!

Here is a link to Carolina Vines:

https://www.carolina-vines.com

All of the new 18″x24″ pieces are priced at $325 and that includes the frame.

Van Gogh Immersive Experience

| johndavidbrown3

Last month I had the opportunity to see the Immersive Van Gogh Experience at Camp North End in Charlotte. This is one of five different Van Gogh filmed productions, where his artwork is projected and animated on the walls of a gallery space and everything comes to life around you while beautiful music is playing. The actual experience is hard to put into words. It’s an emotional journey. Having the opportunity to step into a painting by this artist… well not just one painting but many, many paintings… growing and changing and coming to life on the walls and floors all around you… it was almost too much. I loved every immersive second. If you are a fan you must go and experience this world!!  

Few artist have had such a profound impact on me and my life as Van Gogh. My artwork has clearly been influenced by Van Gogh… perhaps more than any other artist. From starry swirly skies to the use of bold colors in my interiors and sunflowers I owe so much to this passionate artist. 

When I was young, I saw a movie about Van Gogh and how his worked helped to heal a girl that was sick by giving her positive energy to help her focus on getting well. Although this was a work of fiction, the idea that art could provide someone a bit of joy, positive energy, and brighten their day has been a key factor in why I paint.

I feel like you can see Van Gogh’s influence in a lot of my work. Here are a just a few pieces that came to mind.

Color and Whimsy: The Art of John David Brown III

| johndavidbrown3

The Hickory Museum of Art opened October 1 and my exhibit which is located in the Shuford Gallery as well as the entrance hallway and two other connecting galleries is open to the public! (If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you have already heard this exciting news… a lot.) I am so honored and proud to have this opportunity to show my work in this amazing museum! (Right in the county I have called home for the last 24 years!) 

The exhibit will be open through the month of October, so if you want to see it up close and in person, make plans now to visit! 

Here is Tom Turkey a painting I did for the Folk Art Festival a couple of years ago. He looks particularly handsome on this dark grey wall! You do have to wear a mask when you visit! (Even if it presses your nose down a bit.. ha ha)

Swirly Starry Skies

| johndavidbrown3

The Elephant and I 

As I was completing my 100 day project I decided to work on six 14″ square canvases. Each with its own unique “story” but they all feature a swirly starry sky.

Violin On A Flying Giraffe

It has been pointed out to me on several occasions that these skies are a signature of my art. And I do use them quite often. When I was preparing for these new canvases I reached back to some older paintings I had worked on for inspiration, very much in the vein of my 2020 project. (Where I am doing new versions of 20 older works in the year 2020.)

The Kind Deer

In fact when everything was complete four of the six definitely were revisits of paintings I did several years ago. And the other two were definitely inspired by my earlier works.

Wheelbarrow Full of Stars 

I did a series of canvases featuring a village of people that gathered fallen stars called The Valley of Nod. In this story the valley existed between awake and asleep. These villagers would fill their baskets, barrels, and buckets with stars they collected, polish them up, and return them to the night sky to shine once more.

The Owl and her Rider

I’ve always enjoyed working with a square shape canvas. Now I have six little square canvases eagerly awaiting their frames!

Over the Village

If you would like to see videos of me painting all of these, visit my instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/johndavidbrown3

 

Take A Seat

| johndavidbrown3

Here is a bit of a throwback to last summer. I painted a series of brightly colored chairs on 8×10 canvases in acrylic I call “Take A Seat”. I have always loved furniture and interiors. Earlier in the year I had the opportunity to work with Design Master Furniture, based in Hickory, NC, to create watercolor renderings of quite a few of their designs. A process I found challenging but enjoyed very much. I wanted to continue my exploration of various styles of chairs. My friend Andy Lominac, a designer that has worked in the furniture world and is a self-proclaimed furniture nerd, named each of these pieces.

Currently most of the collection is hanging at the Hickory Museum of Art. (Still waiting an opening date due to our current Covid-19 quarantining status in North Carolina)

I captured the process of many of these on my instagram account. I did a lot of color layering as I painted them. (above is Glenda in various stages)

I think they look really fun in fancy frames! (above is Kathrine in a gold embellished frame)

I also created a set of note cards that I have available whenever I’m able to do art shows! (The note card set includes Glenda, Olivia, Barbara, Victoria, and Anne)

Midge was the last piece I made for this collection. I based if off of a chair one of our neighbor’s had discarded. I just LOVED the shape so much. I do think their chair was beyond repair, but now it lives on a bit in this portrait!

100 Day Project Complete

| johndavidbrown3

I completed my 100 day project 35 days ago so this post is about a month late!! This is the first time I’ve managed to actually complete a 100 day project. Woohoo! I feel like I learned a great deal about hand lettering and I certainly got faster.

I didn’t vary my styles as much as I had originally planned but I am extremely proud that I managed to complete the project. When the Hickory Museum of Art can open again they have on display 48 of the 100 drawings I finished. It’s really cool to see them up on the wall.

Also I am planning on putting together a coloring book with many of these. And a few will be developed into full color prints! As I mentioned in my earlier post it has been wonderful to learn more about many of the people that said these little bits of wisdom!

You can see all 100 quotes and videos of the process on my Instagram! @johndavidbrown3

100 Days Project 2020

| johndavidbrown3

So with a little extra time on my hands this spring I decided to jump into a 100 days of Hand Lettering project.

I have always enjoyed and admired hand lettering (and even dabbled in it myself from time to time.) But I want to be better.

So I set out 49 days ago and decided to hand letter one quote a day and to film my process. The good, the bad, and the copious amounts of erasing!! It’s all part of the process. Then I post the video along with a finished photo to my social media pages as a way to be accountable. Tomorrow I will be halfway through!

Learning more about the fascinating people that said these things has been an unexpected and wonderful side effect! Also there is no shortage to wonderful thoughts, ideas, and poetry available.