During the latest May 2014 Issue of Fete Magazine, I was featured as the Cover artist. Fete is an online eMagazine covering arts and entertainment in the Greenville upstate area, What an honor! Here is a link to Fete Online. Make sure to check the archived issues after this month to see the article.  Special Thanks to Jay Spivey and Fete supporters!

Last Friday April 4, myself and a group of other local artists and performers hosted the Rusted  Palace: Grand Art and Music Show at  The Taylor's Mill. It was the first show of its kind  within the old bleachery building complex with an estimated 250 guests! This event event involved an art show and installation showing during the First Fridays studio tour with a music and dance performance that followed at 9 p.m.  

For the show, sculptor Carey Morton and I built a large installation. The bulk of the installation was fabricated from tree branches found on the mill property. Called, The Grandfather Tree, the sculpture featured the face of the mill's landlord, Kenneth Walker, who has been instrumental in allowing artists to flourish at the mill.  The piece takes up over 15' of the wall in the performance space and towers over 10' high.  Our artist sensibilities made a powerful combination in the finished incarnation of this piece; It was so exciting to see it come together.

Local bands Wasted Wine and Morgan of the Pines provided the music entertainment accompanied by dance by Discordia Arts.  I must say the combination of the music and dance with our sculpture in the background was a quite impressive, and made a unique synthesized arts experience. The show was incredibly rewarding to work on; I can't wait to get started on our next project. The mill itself is inspirational and I know artists like us will continue to do amazing things there. 

All Photo Credit: John-Paul Newton

I am now posting to Instagram! Follow me to get on the go updates and really cool images of my artwork and works in progress!

AllisonAnneStudio

The first weekend this November was my first time participating in the local Metropolitan Arts Council's Open Studios Event. I had 460 visitors to my studio and  many wonderful conversations about my work! Sleeping Beauty  and Hatsheput (still in progress) were on display and I got many interesting reactions, I love what I do!

Since my studio is located at the Mill in Taylors, there were many other artists grouped in the same place. Visitors were able to see a variety of artist, very convenient!

I also had the honor of having two wonderful local musicians play during the event as guest artists! Lynne "Clide" Holcombe, a wonderful songwriter and banjoist and Rex Akins of Morgan of the Pines! Please check out their wondrous music.

Open Studios is a wonderful opportunity for people to come see the way artists work. If you  haven't participated as an artist or a visitor already, I highly suggest it! MAC is also hosting a wonderful exhibition, All Squared Away, in their headquarters downtown that includes most of the participating artists. that show should be up till December 6th. It's a great retrospective of local Greenville upstate artists and I highly recommend it!

If you miss out on open studios this year, do not fear! Myself and many other local artists, also participate in First Fridays! From 6-9 every first Friday of the month.

Websites are an essential part of marketing for a practicing artist, and while dealing with --all things computer-- may seem daunting at times, perfecting your website could have a huge impact on your sales.  For those new to the online agenda, I've listed a few pointers that I found particularly useful while rounding out my website and online portfolio.

SEO or search engine optimization, is a term used in marketing to refer to the method in which you design your site to have high relevancy in search engines. This means that you design the content and layout of your website so that the search engine programs will list your site higher in search results. 

These images are in progress shots of a new sculpture I'm working on, Queen America, This piece will be a life-sized bust and will possess a headdress made from found objects and other industrial materials. At this point I have basically finished the ceramic part of the sculpture and will now slowly allow it to dry so that It may be fired in the kiln.

The image below is a picture I took while I was still shaping gout the basic form of the piece. I built the head solid using an armature made of plumping pipes for support.  I then cut it apart and hollowed it out. I made the base separately and attached the base and head when they were leather hard.  I then went back and cleaned up the form.  I like the process of solid building because I feel like i have more control over the shape of the piece and can change it easily if necessary, It also reduces the amount of stress on the sculpture that may have been created from using darts or attaching many sections.

More images of Queen America In progress to come. Especially of the building of the headdress and surface finishing.

I've been working a lot lately on getting my online marketing rounded out and thought it would be nice to get a blog started. A blog is also a great opportunity for me to share  my artistic and creative process! I have entered in all the information and posts that were on the old 'News" section of my website, so they are still around, but now I will be posting articles on my studio process as well as news updates.  Please follow the blog, it will have lots of great information, I promise!

On August 8, 2013 I made my first TV Debut on WSPA's Carolina Now!, stationed in Spartanburg, SC. The show airs locally in the upstate area and does news reports on small, local businesses. This show focused primarily on my new series of pottery that I've been working on this year.  I discuss my inspiration, process, and future exhibition opportunities. Here's the link:

http://www.carolinascw.com/story/23082575/allison-anne-brown-pottery

My work has been accepted in the Carolina's Got Art juried competition.One sculpture and one pottery piece will be displayed at the Elder Gallery in Charlotte NC During the month of May and different piece in June. Stop by and see my work if you get the chance!

Carolinas Got Art Homepage

Allison Anne Studios will now participate in First Fridays. Stop by every First Friday of the Month to see the studio, New works and art for sale. There are also many other artists located in the area, its a perfect place to browse!

First Fridays Online