By Bonnie Gangelhoff
When Sydney Brown saw a toy monkey in a local store, she knew she had to paint the funky creature. The simian eventually became the focal point in MR. FANDANGO WAITS FOR HIS CUE, which is so titled because the monkey looks as if it is sitting offstage, just waiting for a turn to perform. “I like my subject matter to be a bit unusual,” Brown says.
The Arizona-based painter once thought she would become a landscape artist, but enduring wind, heat, scorpions, and rattlesnakes while on location propelled her back into the studio. For subject matter, she regularly scours antique shops and also checks the Internet. Brown is currently working on a still life depicting an antique blow torch she purchased on eBay. “It has a really interesting shape and great colors,” she says. Mainly a self-taught artist, Brown also studied with Jean Chambers. She is represented by Mary Williams Fine Arts, Boulder, CO; Jane Hamilton Fine Art, Tucson, AZ; Tubac Center of the Arts, Tubac, AZ; and www.sydneybrownfineart.com.
Featured in “21 over 31” in November 2009