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Stacey Brown, who grew up in the Sophia, Archdale and High Point areas, remembers coloring with her mother when she was 3.

“I have always liked to make things with my hands. My mom was craftsy, so we made things together like band boxes and paper roses,” Brown said. “One of the first things I remember making was a pig cut out of pink construction paper. It was in the Guilford Country Fair and I won a prize.”

Brown believed from a very young age she wanted to be an artist. Her parents were always very supportive of her plan.

Brown took art classes in middle school and in high school at Randleman High. She took classes in weaving, drawing still life, making pottery and using a variety of media. She also took a high school photography course.

The summer before her senior year, Brown was nominated for Governor’s School in Laurinburg. “I remember creating a bust of my head out of clay,” Brown said. “We covered that with a white plaster. I really enjoyed making it and my mom still has it in her house — my head at 17.”

Even as a child, Brown enjoyed observing people and liked to draw portraits trying to catch the subjects’ inner selves from facial expression. Many times the subject didn’t know he was being observed. As an artist Brown wanted the character’s vulnerability to show through.

Brown finds inspiration in paintings by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.

Another favorite artist is Norman Rockwell. She likes the way he drew his people from real life. The work always reflected heartfelt and touching feelings in his subjects who often were people who lived in his own town.

Brown graduated from Western Carolina University in l999 with a degree in art and graphic design. She liked the figure drawing classes in which students were the models. This gave her a chance to develop her skills in drawing faces and bodies.

Brown took a class in book arts. “This class made me work with both hands. We cut paper and bindings for books.”

She won an award her senior year at Western Carolina for graphic design. The design was an animation of a gold fish accompanied by the song “I Will Survive.” The title, a play on words, was “Superficial.”

Brown’s first job as a graphic designer was for Quebecord in Atlanta, Ga. She worked on direct mail mock-ups for the companies’ products. After two years, she moved to the production area of the company.

“This gave me a chance to learn about another side of the business. I was not business-minded so this was good experience. I did creative stuff on the side, portraits, freelance work and graphic design. I was very busy,” Brown said.

“When I appraised my career, I felt I was not at the point I needed to be. I decided to come home to this area. I found a part-time job at Nelson Lee Gallery in the Archdale area.

“Then I worked for Carson-Dellosa, an educational publisher in Greensboro for three years. This also broadened my experience.”

Since 2009 Brown has been working in the graphic design department of the North Carolina Zoo. This department designs and installs all the signs in the park, such as the interpretative signs with information about the species.

Recently Brown worked on the signs for the new lemur exhibit.
Brown finds herself always doing a lot of creative work on the side. She has designed murals for her church, Mount Vernon United Methodist in Trinity.

She also designed a mural of the seasons of the year for Bonnie and Barry Schulteiss of High Point. The mural is painted with acrylic paint and is on a removable wood panel. When the season changes, the painting for the next season is put in the window frame.
Brown is currently working on a 13 ½ foot beach scene in the Schulteiss’s stairwell.

Brown can be reached at Staceybrown@ns.net.

Contact Kathy Johnson at mjohnson2@triad.rr.com