Carroll Times Herald
https://carrollspaper.com/news/lohrville-artist-brings-resources-to-rural-areas/article_14ef8872-c46f-11ee-8afa-07cb37ee46ab.html
Lohrville artist brings resources to rural areas
Sarah Stortz Feb 5, 2024
Emily Brown is hoping to make art more accessible in rural areas.
“I want people to be more comfortable with expressing themselves, their emotions, their feelings, through creating art,” Brown said.
Living in her rural home in Lohrville, Brown is bringing her artistic touch closer to Carroll County.
On Monday, Feb. 12, Brown will offer a ‘Paint and Sip’ at the Still, located at 109 N. Main Street in Templeton. During the session, she will help guide guests through painting a floral arrangement on a 10x20 canvas. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. and tickets cost $42.
Included in the ticket will be canvas to paint and take home, paints, painting supplies and a plastic apron to protect clothing.
“I want people to feel comfortable,” Brown said. “A lot of people come in a little bit overwhelmed because they’re not artists and I want them to feel welcomed. I want it to be a friendly environment and I want it to be chill in a fun way.”
Because attendees usually come with friends, Brown said the group helps foster a fun environment for the session.”
“I couldn’t replicate that on my own,” Brown said. “And people who come alone end up leaving with new friends.”
Always being creative, Brown said she’s painted ever since she was a child. As a high school student, Brown created display pieces for the business she worked at.
Although she had a full-ride art scholarship during her first semester in college, Brown decided it wasn’t the right path and went into another field.
It wasn’t until later in her adulthood when she fell back in love with painting, using it as a form of therapy. Going through the COVID-19 pandemic, Brown would find herself painting for hours.
“My kids would go to bed and I would just sit there and be painting for so long, just trying to process through things and the art really allowed me to process those feelings,” Brown said.
In 2020, Brown had friends reach to commission art pieces, which she had never done at that point.
“I did that for them and they informed me that I definitely needed to be selling that elsewhere,” Brown said.
She’s now selling her own work online, which is available on eejcreates.com.
One of the flower paintings from Emily Brown’s sketchbook.
Besides painting, Brown also enjoys sewing, particularly making individualized clothing items for others.
“It’s a form of self-expression so that when someone wears it, that’s a completely unique piece that no one else is gonna see anywhere else,” Brown said.
Her upcoming event in Templeton isn’t the first time she’s teaching others. She hosted similar events in Lake City and Rockwell City.
By providing these painting classes, she hopes more people will feel inspired.
“I think offering painting classes at local restaurants and bars is an excellent way for these establishments to bring in guests on a night when they aren’t as busy and also clients who usually wouldn’t frequent these spaces,” Brown said. “It offers the community something to do and allows a business to expand their reach.”
Browns lives in Lohrville with her husband, Jacob, and their three kids: Savannah, 8, Avery, 5 and Jeremiah, 2 ½.
