For Brienne M. Brown, the reasons why she buys a painting for her collection vary, but one thing generally doesn’t — her feeling that she has to have it.
“When I look at my collection, I realize I have different reasons for collecting each of them,” says the Pennsylvania artist. “And it’s not always about one thing. It’s about what catches me at the time. If I see something and have to have it, I buy it. Also, I have a few artists that I am always on the lookout for because I admire them so much.”
We asked her to choose three paintings from her collection to discuss, and it’s no surprise that this watercolorist chose three watercolors. Brown says she hangs almost all of the paintings by other artists she owns in her house, and rotates through her own paintings for the rest of the wall space.
Brown decided to start with a watercolor by Ian Ramsey. “He’s a Utah artist, and that’s where I’m from, and I’ve always loved his work,” she says. “But I lived in Japan for a couple of years, and his piece really captured the feeling of being there. It’s about depicting a place that I loved. It is so Japan, from the signage to the way he did the cars — and when you live there, everything seems narrow. Out West where I’m from, all the streets are wide. And of course the rain, you gotta have the rain. And I loved that some of the buildings were just washed out, not finished.”
Next is a piece by Alvaro Castagnet, a legendary watercolorist with tremendous influence. “I bought this at his workshop,” Brown recalls. “I know it was a plein air piece and I believe it was a demo from one of his many workshops all over the world. I love the technique, and it’s a reminder of what I learned at his workshop. He’s such a master of connecting shapes, which is something I am always striving for.”
Finally, a painting of a golden retriever by a friend, Kristi Grusendorf. “I love this for a number of reasons,” says Brown. “I absolutely love dogs, so the subject for me is just perfect. She really captured the dog. I love the design; the composition just spoke to me. And last, I know the artist, and so this reminds me of her. I love how there’s no skyline, just all foreground. The abstract shapes all lead to the dog. It’s masterfully done. You get the feeling of the snow on the ground, but there’s no detail in it. It’s all about the abstract shapes leading you to where she wants you to go.”
