THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 12, 1995 TAG: 9505100148
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
For Theresa A. Brown, there's creative power in paper.
And she makes her own.
When the Chesapeake artist sets up her exhibit this weekend at the 24th annual Ghent Arts Festival at Towne Point Park in Norfolk, she hopes to attract the kudos of the judges and the fancy of art buyers with her own brand of contemporary art.
The Great Bridge resident will display more than a dozen of her original works at her second Ghent Arts Festival showing.
What makes her pieces unique, Brown said, is the fact that her modern abstract designs are largely made of paper. Paper she makes herself at her home studio.
``My paper-making is self-taught,'' said the professional graphic artist. ``I learned about the technique from an artist at the D'Art Center in Norfolk. I was very interested in it, so I went out and did research and taught myself.
``I like doing this because I have total control over the textures in the paper I make,'' she said. ``I like to use bold colors. And love the unique textures I can create with my own paper.''
Brown said she takes pulp, which can be bought in rolls from various art supply stores, breaks it down, soaks it overnight, adds colors and repeats the process until, three days later, she has her own artistic building blocks.
``I let my imagination run wild when I'm creating different textures in the paper,'' she said. ``While making the paper, I even add other items like string, for example, to create unique patterns.''
Brown has been so adept at her paper-making that she's even given presentations and workshops at various schools and art classes.
But paper-making is only one step in Brown's creative process. After the paper has been created and dried, she arranges pieces on canvases to create abstract designs that convey moods, emotions and feelings.
``This form of creativity allows me to utilize my strong design skills,'' she said, ``while letting my imagination explore the unlimited possibilities of my talent.''
Brown said she considers Ken Wright, a successful abstract artist from Chesapeake, and Charles Flynn, an art professor at her alma mater, Virginia State University, as her primary influences and mentors.
``Both have been very inspirational and helpful to me in forming my own style,'' Brown said. ``They gave me insights into contemporary abstract styles.''
Brown, who graduated from Southampton High School, has a bachelor in fine arts degree in commercial design from Virginia State.
``I always enjoyed art even as a little girl,'' Brown said. ``I took it in high school and began to develop a strong interest in it.''
She currently works as a graphic artist and has exhibited her works at Gallery One in Virginia Beach, the Virginia Beach Public Library, the Portsmouth School Board and at Norfolk's Harbor Gallery, D'Art Center and La Galleria. Her works also are part of pop singer Freda Payne's personal art collection.
In addition, she has participated at the Tim Reid annual Celebrity Art Auction at Norfolk State University, the WHRO-TV Auction, the Omega Auction, the Nansemond-Suffolk Academy Invitational Art Show and the Ghent Art Show.
Her first exhibition at last year's Ghent show was a success.
``Everybody was amazed at the way I arranged my paper,'' she said. ``Most people who viewed my works thought they were very unique.''
Brown said she plans to display works at the Ghent Arts Festival with titles such as ``Seascape'' and ``Unlimited Possibilities.''
``As I work on a particular piece, the title eventually comes to me,'' she said. ``I like to give my pieces concrete titles that show how I feel about the particular work at the time. I draw the titles from the emotional state I'm in at the time of creation.''
Brown now intends to create works that not only include her own paper textures but also what she call ``found objects,'' which include string, rocks, fabric pieces, glass and anything else that suits her fancy.
Sometimes her collages seem to create themselves, she said.
``Many times I even surprise myself,'' she said. ``And when people view my works, they see things in them that I don't even see. I like to appeal to many emotions.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
Theresa Brown, a professional graphic artist from Great Bridge, will
display her works at the Ghent Arts Festival.
by CNB