Metamorphosis by Judy Brown

"Metamorphosis" by Judy Brown 

October 21 - December 24, 2024

SHOW STATEMENT
My artwork is not of myself but is a gift from God that I happily share with you. We get so busy with our lives that we rarely take time to “smell the roses” it seems. I love the beauty of God’s Creation, and I want to share it with you. Of course, my paintings are a poor reflection of His work but only a reminder to us to pause and focus on His precious gifts to us from time to time. I have included some of my earlier work along with some more current items, perhaps you will see the metamorphosis. I love high contrast for two reasons. As a baby, I loved to wake up at my grandmother’s house, lying on the couch, and look up at the afghan my aunt had crocheted for her. It was colorful, various variegated yarn flowers on a black background. No doubt it kept me quiet for quite a while. The second reason is a painting I saw as a child during a tour of The Butler Museum of Art. I believe it is titled, “The Hunt.” It’s a painting of a hunter’s horn, and other related items. I loved the high contrast in that painting! I am ashamed to admit that I have neglected this precious gift that God has given me, and now that my life has taken a different direction, I pray that I will finally give Him the honor that He deserves. Thank you for visiting.

ARTIST BIO
Can you remember “finding” your hands when you were a tiny infant? I can. It was a very difficult effort and I don’t remember why I thought I could do it, but I did. How joyful I felt when I finally achieved my goal! Then later... I saw feet! What, another difficult goal? But I did it anyway! Felt not quite as joyful as finding my hands but still very happy at achieving something new... so here we are... many years later, still learning, growing, and trying to achieve new goals. I say I am a self-taught artist but that isn’t quite accurate. God has been my teacher and I still have a lot to learn. My dad was a commercial artist, part time, self-taught, and very good. I remember one time when he was trying to teach me how to draw a profile of a woman’s face when I was a pre-schooler. He said, “A woman is all curves,” and he and my mother started laughing. I was a little miffed that they had secret jokes between them. When I was in seventh grade I won a State Gold Key for a charcoal still-life that I did. My teacher, Matio Bertolini, wanted me to start a portfolio to present at my graduation and perhaps win a scholarship to an art school, but that didn’t happen and I decided to focus on something other than art. Then, when I was 19, I got a bad case of the “stupids” and got married. I took classes at YSU occasionally and finally entered their RN program and became a nurse. I remember the day I made my decision, my husband gave me the choice of taking an art class or an academic class. I can remember feeling that I didn’t have the depth I needed to become the artist I wanted to be, so I chose nursing classes. I dislike self-disclosure but now I find that there is so much more I would like to tell you but space is limited. I am a widow, and have two wonderful children, three amazing grandchildren, and two beautiful, amazing great-granddaughters! Life is good. God bless you as you read this and forever.