Brown ’23 experiments in her free time at home, often favoring acrylic paints.
Belle Brown ’23 views the world around her with an artistic lens, looking to her family, nature, and simple everyday objects for inspiration. As an artist, Brown hopes to fill the world with emotion and liveliness, creating textured scenes and telling layered stories.
“I find significance in [art] because I really want to make people feel something when they look at it. I like pieces that when you look harder, more stands out, or makes you feel a certain way… I think as a person I’m very consistent with what I admire, and what I like to have around me. I think it’s honestly just how my vision works,” said Brown.
Brown prefers depicting still life, while also bringing an aspect of motion into each of her pieces. Even when painting a simple, motionless subject, she looks to light and contrast for an added sense of dimension. Whether it is her paint strokes adding depth or the colors adding contrast, Brown’s perception of movement in the world is highlighted in her own creation of a scene.
“I really like texture, and pay close attention to the mood of a color scheme. I also really like to work with light, the way light reflects off objects particularly stands out to me. I also really appreciate eyes, and I appreciate specific things like tea sets and sometimes plants and floral arrangements. I also tend to incorporate patterns like tablecloths and wallpaper,” said Brown.
Brown has been inspired by her childhood teachers and past art teachers, such as the late Emily Trespas, Instructor in Art, and her current teacher Ms. Obelliero. One of Brown’s favorite artists is Frank Corso’s, whose life has influenced the way she views creativity. For Brown, using Corso’s free-flowing and spontaneous painting style is essential for understanding what the norm is, and then going beyond it, mixing tradition with abstract.
“…[Frank Corso’s] professor came over and critiqued his work…and he just got so mad he took a bunch of gray paint and scribbled all over it…And then he ended up winning the contest because he accidentally created this amazing, funky, kind of all over the place tornado over this really really beautiful traditional landscape-looking era painting. And so that really inspired me to just go with the flow, and just let your emotions come out,” Brown said.
Overall, Brown believes that her art is more about the process of creation than it is about a final product. The moment she steps back to revel in the beauty of her expression is what makes her feel like a true artist, able to share a piece of herself on a canvas.
“I think that my art is really just the time I put into it. Whether it be a lot or a little. That’s what’s really important to me, the time I spend painting. Sometimes it feels like work, and sometimes I get frustrated with it, but it’s the times when I’m painting, and it just feels so right, that I love what I’m doing… That moment, when I can see my work paying off, is an amazing feeling, ” said Brown.
