welcome to my Dan Brown Art of Texas studio

Pictured below is More than a Memory a limited edition of 200 signed and numbered prints.  This windmill and stone tank no longer grace the hillside about a mile from my studio. They were torn down about ten years ago to make way for suburban growth.  You can wipe the windmill away from the face of the earth, but you can't take it away from an artist's memory. One  spring, I looked at the hillside and remembered yesteryear.  Then I painted

More than a Memory

I paint Texas--her landscape, her wildlife, her historical buildings--nostalgic things that interest her people. Through the years I've learned that people around the world love Texas and connect with the things that Texans love.

More than 8,000 folks collect  my work. My original paintings, fine art prints, open edition prints, and prints from my historical calendars hang in homes and businesses in all 50 states and in 14 foreign countries. I believe that art is for everyone, so I offer art work for every pocketbook.

 I was born in Midland and reared in Lubbock, out where the west wind blows and blows and blows. In 1968 those winds blew me and my family 300 miles east to Fort Worth. I'm now firmly planted in Central Texas.  A love for Texas--North, South, East, and West--remains central in my life.

My other loves include:  Joyce,  my wife of 50 years; our son Vincent; our daughter  Danna;  our two in-law kids---Linda Craig Brown and Cliff Webber;  our four grandchildren---Randall Brown, age 22; Christopher Brown, age 18;  Danielle Webber, age 15; and Jonathan Webber, age 13.

My passion for history is evident in many of my paintings.  I spent more than two years researching the contribution the windmill made to the settling of the southwestern United Stated and in completing 40 paintings to illuminate windmill history.  That research led me to produce my first historical calendar in 1999. For nine years, I produced a historical calendar.  Each calendar included 12 paintings, snippets of history about a particular subject, and snippets of my personal history.

• "Windmills of the West," in 1999, highlighted ways the windmill contributed to the settling of the southwestern United States.  I grew up on the high plains of Northwest Texas looking at wide open spaces, big skies, and windmills. I dreamed of making a living as an artist without sacrificing my dream of having a wife and children.  But a West Texan is a practical soul.  I don't wait for inspiration to make an occasional visit.  I work at my craft, much like our ancestors worked to "flesh out" their dreams. I see windmills as a monument to their dreams and their hard work.

• "A Stitch in Time," in 2000, gave a brief history of quilting in the United States.  Growing up, I spent many nights under multiple quilts listening to howling winds rattle the window panes in my unheated bedroom.  I suffered from childhood asthma and a mother who worried about me. The woman layered quilts until I could hardly move.  Later she worried that I would starve to death as an artist. I outgrew my asthma at age 28 and my mother's fears at 34. That year, I left an advertising career to become a full-time dry brush watercolor artist. My quilt calendar was a tribute to ordinary women who took bits and pieces of life and stitched them into something comforting and beautiful for their families.

• "Country Churches," in 2001 included history on 12 Texas church buildings. I grew up in a blue-collar Methodist church.  I met and married my wife in that church. The religious life and the social life of both our families revolved around that small church.  Joyce and I reared our family in the church.  Our closest friends are those we have made in church.  Worship, study, fellowship, and service through our church continue to shape our lives. My church calendar was dedicated to people who used faith, funds, prayer, and sacrifice to build places so that they could gather to worship God.

• Wildflower Legends," in 2002, featured landscapes of Texas wildflowers.  My interest in growing things came from my father.  Thanks to Pop, we always had a a bit of grass, a vegetable garden, fruit trees, and flowers on the one-acre plot where I grew up. Both my parents grew up in North Central Texas.  On trips to see my Grandmother Brown in Saint Jo and my Granddad Appling in Fort Worth, I was introduced to the splendor of Texas wildflowers.  A kid on a train had plenty of time to watch the moving, magic carpet of wildflowers.

• "Weather Lore," in 2003, included historical tidbits on weather in Texas.  I grew up without air conditioning or television. In those days, kids spent hours outside, through wind and rain and weather. The sky was big around Lubbock, and we could actually see the weather rolling in---lightning, rain, tornadoes, sandstorms. I still keep an eye on the sky, watching for signs of changing weather.  Perhaps that's why my collectors often say, "I love the way you paint the sky."

• "Down on the Farm," in 2004 offered some farming history in America.  At age ten, I had my first money-making job pulling cotton bolls on the farm across the road from our house. Growing up surrounded by farming taught me that farmers are the biggest gamblers in the world.  They invest most of their money and most of their time, then watch the sky and hope. Perhaps their example gave me the courage to travel the art circuit peddling my paintings and prints.  I invest most of my money and most of my time, then watch the sky at outdoor art shows and hope.

• "Windmills of the West," in 2005, celebrated the 150th birthday of the American-style windmill. I was a poor scholar who covered my notebooks with drawings while my teachers tried to teach me math and more.  Encouraged by my elementary school art teacher, I decided, at age ten, to become an artist.  Nine years later, I photographed a neighbor's wooden windmill silhouetted against a winter sunset sky.  Sitting in my 10x10 foot studio (carved from my parent's garage) and using that photo as a model, I painted my first windmill painting.  I've been painting windmills ever since. I have no idea how many of my paintings include windmills, but I hope you enjoy chasing some of the windmills in this on-line gallery. 

• "This Place Texas," in 2006, told of people who moved to Texas during the past 12,000 years.  At least five generations of my family have been born in Texas. I have a deep appreciation for this place called Texas.  Early-on I developed a love of history, especially a love of Texas history.  My dad, a scoutmaster for 43 years, taught me to appreciate the history and culture of Texas' earliest residents, American Indians. I devoured biographies of famous Texans. My mother, a former teacher, encouraged me to become a history teacher. But I chose to combine my love of art with my love of history and embark on the risky road of self-employment.

• "Signs of Texas," in 2007, reminded us that signs point us to the story that is as big as Texas. That calendar included signs from Mother Nature and signs of the human touch in Texas. I believe that life is filled with signs to point us toward the truth.  I believe that I was created to be an artist. During my life, many have recognized that artistic spark within me and have become signs, pointing me toward truth and purpose and survival.  With encouragement from my elementary art teacher, my parents gave me art lessons. A high school art teacher introduced me to watercolor. For 15 years I worked in advertising art by day and painted dry brush watercolor paintings by night. In 1973, my wife and I interpreted a sell-out one-man show as a sign that I should leave my advertising job and become a full-time watercolor artist.  We took that plunge in 1974 when our son was 12 and our daughter was 9.  We've never looked back.  We've often looked up and ask for help in noticing signs that point us toward survival in a risky profession.  

Now I'm semi-retired. When you are doing the work you love, you never stop doing that work. But I'm traveling some new trails. I no longer produce a historical calendar, but I still offer calendar prints on this web site.  This makes it possible for people with little money to afford a piece of my work.  I'm doing fewer art shows. I'm now using more of my time to do commission paintings.

Well, that tells you some things about me.  If you'd like to tell me your story, e-mail  dan@danbrownart.com

 copyright 2007 by Dan Brown

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