Richmond, Va. artist Lizzie Brown paints vivid and dramatic portraits to show the beauty, resilience, and strength of African Americans.
Brown remembers her own first portrait at age five. “I was standing with a blue easel before me, a white sheet of paper, crayons in the easel tray, and I wanted to be sure to use EVERY color. I was in the zone, drawing my brown skin, black hair pulled in a ponytail with strands hanging to the left and right. I had red nail polish and chose to put myself in a long blue dress. A rainbow above my head, I thoughtfully added pink, yellow, black, brown, and violet flowers sprouting from the green grass around me.
“As I added my last touches, a woman walked up and asked what I was making. I told her it was a picture of me. Once I had finished my drawing, she asked if she could have it. I wondered why she wanted my picture, but with assurance from my teacher, I told her yes.”
Later Brown’s first self-portrait was selected to be in an auction where her mother and aunt won the piece for $75. This experience affirmed that the arts was the path for her.
Despite her early start as an artist, Brown says during her high school and college years, she struggled to find her voice and point of view. She graduated magna cum laude from Virginia Commonwealth University with a dual degree in art education (licensed K-12) and painting/printmaking along with a minor in art history.
During her college years, she interned at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond and led youth programs through the non-profit Art 180 in Richmond. She also displayed her work in different community centers in and around the area.
For seven and a half years, Brown taught art to middle schoolers in Henrico County, Va. Her classes ranged from crafts and digital art to exploratory art. She also taught combinations of K-12 age groups in camp, private, non-profit, after-school, and museums throughout Richmond and surroundings.
“In the classroom,” says Brown, “I was intentional about exposing students to a diverse range of artists from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds. I also believe I created a safe space for freedom of expression, acceptance, and life lessons.”
She initially planned to teach for only three years. “Then on Juneteenth 2019 a fire was reignited in me. My family and I were out near the Canal Walk in Richmond. It was a light drizzle, and my daughter skipped along with her rainbow umbrella and blue headscarf in place,” Brown recalls. “I took a portrait picture of her and knew I had to paint it. It wasn’t until about a week and half before I had to go back to work, that I decided to pick up a brush after ten years and began to paint.
“It felt SO good. It was at this moment I knew it was time to leave the classroom and create full-time.” She contracted for one more school year in which she taught virtually due to covid. In the summer of 2021, she officially started painting again while launching her art business, From The Core Art Studio.
Now Brown continues to cultivate a love for the arts with youth (K-12), developing and leading art camps, and teaching in educational settings and after-school programs.
“Much of my work was abstract, zooming in on nature and natural elements, but I always had a love for contrast and color,” Brown says. “Fast forward to today, as a full-time artist I create portraits that represent African men, women, and children in a light of positivity, vibrancy, beauty, and strength. Much of my work is bright and colorful, but even today some of the movement and structure present in my abstract work years ago shows up in many of my pieces.”
Brown says her use of color is a combination of intuitive choices and an understanding of color theory and color relationships. “Typically,” she says, “the colors are influenced by aesthetic and/or the type of energy I want conveyed in my pieces.
“I use colors that enhance what’s being expressed. For example, pieces exhibiting joy, I use colors that are more intense and energetic, compared to a painting that is more relaxed and reflective or serious in nature. In those paintings I use a calmer and more balanced or neutral palette.”
“For me,” Brown adds “art is a ministry. My intention is to depict African Americans in imagery that highlights that we are a multifaceted people.
“Oftentimes you see negative depictions of African Americans, whether it be in the media or through other forms of art. My goal is to have more representation of our joy, beauty, and strength, and to show we are more than just the struggle, or the hard parts of our existence.”
Brown admires the work of African American artists such as fiber artist Bisa Butler, portraitists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, and figurative artist LaToya Hobbs. “I love utilizing pattern and color theory in my work. These artists tend to use bright colors, people of color, and patterns as well,” she notes. Brown’s resulting portraits are joyful and emotional, testimony to her passion for her subjects.
She works in acrylics, often with gold leaf details and occasional colored pencil and graphite. All her works are hand-drawn and hand-painted.
“I usually have a dream or vision for a painting. I then find or take a photo reference for the pose of the figure. From there, I alter the hair, clothing, background to align with my vision. Sometimes I take multiple references from different sources and merge them together. I tend to see things in shapes, sort of like a puzzle, and then the piece evolves and manifests from there.
“Art is a universal language” Brown says. “It is a catalyst for change and has the power to connect, heal, and empower. When others connect with and can see themselves in my work then I know I’ve done my job.”
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