It is an amazing story of gentleness and kindness after surviving the challenges of childhood abuse. Buck’s soft heart towards horses and a genuine desire to help people change is a great accomplishment for a life story. Promoting praise and cooperation rather than fear and punishment, Buck Brannaman becomes one of the most well-respected horse trainers in the industry. Go see this movie!

‘Art  on display’
Great Bay Art Association Exhibit at the Discover Portsmouth Center,  Portsmouth, NH

Every elementary school art teacher will tell you, there is always a “horse kid.”

It doesn’t matter if the school is in the country where kids ride horses daily or in the city where most kids have never ridden; there is always a horse kid. This student draws horses, paints horses, fashions them out of clay. Even when drawing a still life of a vase with flowers, somehow a pattern of running horses ends up on the vase.

Well, Denise Brown was that horse kid. Brown was lucky enough to grow up next to a horse farm in Rye.

“I grew up near horses,” says Brown, “I took riding lessons and drew them while sitting in the field. I observed their structure and anatomy, I watched their movements.”

Brown has loved to draw and sketch all of her life.

“In grade school my art teacher pushed me, I was known as the ‘horse artist.’”

In high school Brown didn’t take art classes but rediscovered her passion when she took an art elective while attending the University of New Hampshire. She went on to graduate from the University of New Hampshire with a self-designed major in Fine Art, Commercial Art and Marketing. She has run her own business Ad-cetera for the past 30 years where she works as a graphic designer and photographer.

Brown is a versatile artist who does a lot of commissioned portraits of pets, houses and businesses. She was commissioned to paint New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch’s house as a gift to his family. She has made notecards, wine labels, T-shirts and produces a coloring book series called “Ted the Cat.”

Still, horses have never left Brown.

“I have strived to become a master of painting the horse,” she says. She is currently working on a series called “Horse Power.”

“I am continually surprised at how many harnesses there are, there are hundreds of them. All the harnesses show the power of the horse and how mankind has worked with the horse to build what we have today,” Brown explains, “I go to sleep and wake up thinking about what needs to be done on the horse to make it look alive and ready to jump off the canvas.”

Brown’s artistic goal is to become a nationally known equine artist.

Vandy Duffy is a teaching artist and storyteller. She can be contacted by e-mail: areaarts@yahoo.com.

Denise Brown has been an official Trail of Painted Pony Artist since 2006. She was a runner up contestant in the 2011 Trail of Painted Ponies National art contest with her new PATRIOTIC Pony design: Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride Pony — “THE BRITISH ARE COMING!” The Trail of Painted Ponies is one of the most treasured art and collectible companies in the world.
Denise was inspired to paint this pony because of Paul Revere’s historic ride on a Narragansett Pacer called Brown Beauty

Denise Brown PATRIOTIC: Paul Revere Pony

. Here is the tale: Paul Revere’s midnight ride to warn the countryside that “The British are coming” was a superhuman feat performed on horseback and is part of our nation’s story of
freedom. This hazardous ride also became a famous part of equestrian history. On the night of April 18, 1775, two lanterns were placed in the belfry of the Old North Church in Boston to signal that the British were approaching Boston Harbor. Revere, accompanied by a few other Colonists, rowed across the Harbor to begin his journey. In pitch-black of night, adverse weather, fatigue, and the British Redcoats in hot pursuit, he mounted his Narragansett Pacer and rode west to Lexington
and Concord to warn the countryside. He was later captured by British troops in an ambush.
The Narragansett Pacer was the first North American horse breed, and the fastest pacing horse in
the colonies. This Yankee horse, bred in Rhode Island prior to 1676, was known to be strong and sure of foot. The breed was possibly produced with an Irish Hobbie and Scottish Galloway mix with a Spanish Jennet. The dark brown Narragansett often had 4 white socks and splashes of white on the face and side of the body. It was the favorite mount of George Washington. No longer a distinct breed, after it was mixed with Thoroughbreds, as they were known for great stamina and endurance. However, there are still bloodlines today that continue in parts of the country.

Even though I did not win the contest, it was great fun to be a part of an international online voting contest! Lots of great exposure and reconnect with my fans!

Let me know want emotions you feel when you look at my paintings.

I finally had my big one person show at the Discover Portsmouth Center in 2009.

Denise Brown is a Portsmouth native, a local business owner/survivor, fine and commercial artist, and creator of Ted the Cat. She’s painted horses, created giraffes, done a few T-shirts in her time and quite a bit of photography. While not all of it is represented in her exhibition — a nearly 30-year retrospective at the Discover Portsmouth Center (DPC) — much of it was at the show.

“This show is an accumulation of a lifetime. I have been painting since the ’70s and up to today. This (exhibit) is of the bigger picture. It’s an artist’s life,” says Brown, founder owner of ad-cetera graphics.

Herald Article:

The show will include watercolors, acrylic, and photography. The subjects are primarily landscape and architecture of her beloved Seacoast, horses and other animals. It will include commentaries by the artist on her favorite places, her goals and the value of art.

“It is more than just paintings. It shows the development of an artist on the Seacoast,” she says.

By its nature the collection that spans decades reveals an artist’s evolution. It also explains the oft-heard response of artists, Brown among them to the question, “How long did that painting take you?” — “A lifetime.”

“It took me this long to be able to produce that painting to the level I’m at right now,” she says. “So whether it took me a few hours or a couple of weeks, it’s still a lifetime to get to this point …; Art is a process and learning experience. …; Yes, you can see that here.”

When asked what the most outstanding change to her work has been over time, she answers without hesitation. “My colors have gotten bolder.” She also feels that she’s mastered the medium of watercolor as well as her architectural skills with time.

Brown sees her two worlds as overlapping, the businesswoman and fine artist. Much of what she does for her firm is art, she says. It’s why she selected the field years ago as a student at the University of New Hampshire. She was so sure of her direction she designed her own major, a rare occurrence at the time.

Had she believed fine art could have supported her it might have been the choice. But she didn’t. She accepted that, but wasn’t buying into a life without a creative outlet.

Her major was commercial art, advertising and fine art. “I took every kind of art course I could take, mechanical drawing, architectural rendering, business courses and marketing, and fine art. I even took photography …; everything. I also worked at an ad agency in college and got eight credits for that as part of the self-designed major.”

Brown started working the commercial art field right out of college. She formed her own business in 1980, four years after graduation. Here’s where the survival part comes in, she operates the same business today she started back then. “I’ve seen many, many come and go. …; Mine has survived. It’s a commitment, perseverance, stay lean (attitude) in good and in bad times and stick to your budgets.”

One of her more recent commercial jobs is seen at the Discover Portsmouth Center, the beautiful, large, wall panels promoting the city’s historical, art and cultural organizations.

Throughout the years of commercial work Brown has kept her personal art going. She’s straddled the fine/commercial line with pet and house portraits and Christmas cards, she says. There have been a number of children’s books, including “Ted the Cat.” Brown was the only New England finalists in The 2006 Trail of Painted Ponies National Art Competition.

Her DPC exhibition will include more than 30 original photos from her Portsmouth Panorama, which when complete consists of 60 photos. Posters of the full 60 shot view will be available.

“I took the photos on top of the North Church steeple on the scaffolding, holding on to the lightning rod, when the steeple was being rebuilt, then put the photos together on the computer.

Since the 1980s Brown has consistently worked in the traditional fine art arena, creating her delicate watercolor and acrylic works.

“My heart is in my paintings. But I love computer graphics too. I’m an artist. I like to use all kinds of tools …; whether a computer, paint brush, a pencil or camera. …; It’s all part of me as an artist, designer and creator of what I see.”

And there’s more. Brown produces items and works craft shows a few times a year, (also available on her Web site, www.raccoonstudios.com). There’s “Ted the Cat” with all his paraphernalia, other children’s books, prints of her fine art, T-shirts, coffee mugs, magnets “I do it all. …; You have to have fun.” This year she plans on hitting the St. Martin’s Holiday Fair in Somersworth, (Oct. 25) and the Women’s Club Holiday Fair at Portsmouth’s Masonic Temple, (Nov. 15).

“I’m always looking for something new to do that’s different. I get bored …; every so often I have to recharge my batteries,” she says. “It’s great to go off on a tangent. You learn. …; It makes life interesting.”

Next? Well, a lot of the same. “I will probably always continue my graphics business to support my obsession of watercolor painting,” she says. “Artwork is something that gets into your system and continues throughout your life.”