What's Your Canvas?: An interview with artist Tabitha Brown

Tabitha Brown is a talented artist I discovered through her Etsy shop, thepairabirds. Her work is elegant, contemporary, and detailed. Some are simply images that represent a beautiful moment or image in time, while others are more are pieces with a message. Check out her Etsy shop or her Flickr page to see more of her work.

Treat: What's your canvas?
thepairabirds: Graphite and acrylic paint on any archival flat surface.

Treat: How and when did you learn about your skill at drawing?
thepairabirds: I became interested in drawing when I was about eleven. I tried to emulate the drawings in the comic-books I was reading. The interest bloomed as I began to realize there were very few men and women of color in these comic-books and other works of art. I figured if I want to see women that look more like me, I would have to create them myself.

Treat: What do you love about drawing? Like the least?
thepairabirds: I like the thought of creating a person, a personality and an environment, with just a few pencil lines or a few brushstrokes. What I like the least is that my brain has too many ideas, that my hand cannot draw them all out.

Treat: How do you pick the subjects you are going to draw?
thepairabirds: I don't think I consciously pick a subject. I may have a composition all planned out in my head. But, once paper and pencil meet, the piece chooses its destiny.

Treat: What inspires you?
thepairabirds: Humans and how they relate to their environment is inspiring me more and more everyday. I'm also inspired by music, specifically 70s Jazz, Soul, and Funk. The juxtaposition of smooth and gritty found in these genres is very intriguing.

Treat: How did you come up with your Etsy shop name?
thepairabirds: The "bird" part was a nod to Jazz musician Donald Byrd. The "pair" ties into the two symbiotic layers of humans; their inner-self and their outer-self.

Treat: More and more schools are taking way art education. What do you think are some of the benefits of art and/or design in the education of today's youth?
thepairabirds: It gives students a way to express themselves. It gives students a way to escape from life's pressures.
It teaches them about there world. Schoolhouse Rock and Sesame Street's cartoon and musical shorts taught me everything from how to count to 12 to what a congressional bill is.

Treat: How has art/design helped you personally?
thepairabirds:  I am a pretty shy and private person. Art gives me a way to express myself and share my thoughts without me every saying a word.

Treat: Any advice for other creatives?
thepairabirds:  Practice, Observe everything, practice some more, and observe some more.