Hutsie Brown graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute with a major in painting and a minor in printmaking in 1979. She initially worked in representational work, doing portraits, landscapes and pen and ink drawings.
Her work has been shown in Compton Art Gallery, The Artery and several group and solo shows. Commissioned work includes abstract art all over a local doctor’s 1977 Cadillac. But, works mostly in oil on canvas.
In 2000 she narrowed her work to abstracts, concentrating on color and composition. The Moses Cone Cancer Hospital commissioned her for a series of 9 large mural paintings to brighten up a windowless hallway. Hutsie organized help from cancer patients and their families by setting up the project in the form of paint by number. All the participants had much fun working on the murals.
Though enjoying the occasional animal portrait, Hutsie chooses to work primarily on abstracts. She calls her works “organic abstracts” evoking a landscape feeling inspired by nature. And, she enjoys the idea of individuals bringing their own ideas and feelings into what can be seen in her work.
Hutsie Brown was born in Mexico City in 1957 while her American parents were living there, where her father studied mural painting. He is currently an abstract artist in Mexico, having studied at the Black Mountain College in North Carolina and the University of Texas. Hutsie’s parents divorced when she was 3 years old and was unable to see much of her father or his paintings. She left with her family, ending up in New York where her mother ran a successful interior design business. Later, Hutsie attended the Kansas City Art Institute graduating in 1979 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a major in Painting and minor in Printmaking.
Upon graduation, Hutsie moved to Charleston, SC where she worked as a freelance artist, producing people, pet and house portraits. There, she married Don Brown and started a family with 2 children, eventually moving to Greensboro, NC in the fall of 1986. She presently lives on a small farm in McLeansville, NC, sharing their home with a menagerie of animals.
Her art has shown at the Kemper Gallery in Kansas City, Mo, juried shows in Summerfield, SC, and Greensboro Artist League in Greensboro, NC and in several one-person shows held at the Compton Gallery, the Maypop Gallery and The Artery in Greensboro, as well as the Rye Library in Rye, NY. Her work is in numerous private collections in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, California, Missouri, Indiana, Texas, Minnesota and Mexico.
Two published children’s books were illustrated by Hutsie and she has taught private art lessons, and arts and crafts classes at camps. In the mid 90’s she was commissioned to paint an “art car” for a patron of the arts in Greensboro. Later, she repainted the 1977 Cadillac in a new theme of colors inspired by Mt. Kilimanjaro. In 2006 she was commissioned by the Moses Cone Regional Cancer Hospital to develop and produce a series of nine large, 8 x 4 abstract murals for a long hallway in the hospital. The work was completed by Hutsie, the patients and their families and friends.
Hutsie has worked mostly in oil, watercolor, and pen and ink producing mostly loosely-realistic paintings with an emphasis on color until the year 2000, at which time her emphasis has been on abstract paintings.
When asked what her artistic statement would be, she replies: “I like to think of art as being everywhere. Everything seen and felt could be a painting. In my abstracts, I work with colors and composition from things I feel. A painting can have a life of its own whereby the viewer can find meaning, it will be different for everyone who looks at it. When someone buys my painting, they are buying something that speaks to them, from within their own thoughts and feelings. Art can speak to everyone from any background. My favorite artwork is the work children do.
- Created: 2021
- Collections: CVA Member's Gallery