Live Your Music – Margaux Joy and Guest Cara Brown 01/08/20

I am excited to have Cara Brown, an award-winning watercolor artist and teacher, back as my guest for Live Your Music 01/08/20.

In the summer of 1992 Cara and her mom took a watercolor painting class at Drake High, her alma mater. She played around painting flowers from life for a few months, but then hardly painted until about the year 2000, when she started painting again.

In the winter of 2006 her friend Eleanor Harvey invited her to participate in Marin Open Studios. She asked “that means I have to sell my art, right?” Eleanor told her, yes, that was the idea! At that time, her pictures were so precious, they took so much time to paint. But a voice told her that if she wanted more art to come through, she needed to let them go.  Open Studios brought an overwhelming response to her work inspiring her to paint more and search out other ways to show her artwork.

In 2011 she began leading weekly watercolor groups.  She discovered that teaching and creating supportive environments for artists to learn and grow came naturally to her.  There are now between 20 and 30 artists who come to paint on a regular basis – a real community has formed.  They have named themselves the 537 Magnolia Artists, after the address of the space where they paint (Niz Brown’s real estate office in Larkspur). They have had several group shows, including two at the Bartolini Gallery at the Marin Civic Center, and have made 3 collaborative paintings – single works done by between 27 and 35 artists. 

To connect with Cara Brown online, visit her website: www.lifeinfullcolor.com