Home News Local news @ Work: Nicole Brown at True Blue Art Studio

@ Work: Nicole Brown at True Blue Art Studio

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Denae Petersen, left, gets lessons from Nicole Brown.Pieces of iridescent dichroic glass dazzle people as they enter the True Blue Art Studio of Nicole Brown in Christiansted.

Brown has captured the blues of the sea with the sparkle of sunshine on waves in her one-of-a kind fused glass pieces. She has designed rings and bracelets that are the bright tropical colors of limes, lemons and oranges. The hand-cut, emerald-green glass pendents the color of rain forest foliage are fabulous. And there are orange, red and pink pendants resembling colors of the sunset over the Caribbean Sea.

The art studio and retail showroom Brown opened in May is at 54 King Street, directly across the street from Government House. There appears to be a renaissance of sorts going on in that block of downtown Christiansted. The newer businesses in that immediate area say it’s a great location. The taxis are close and tourists checking out Government House often drop in.

Brown said she is very happy to have found her spot in Christiansted. She said she just loves the architecture and dated interior of her studio, with walls of thin Danish brick. She added she loves all of the architecture in town and the view out her door is a beautiful landmark. She has two small kilns for glass fusion in a tiny room at the back of the studio partitioned off with curtains.

“This is a good little space,” Brown said as she welcomed three of her art students into the small studio where they fit just fine. Brown bubbled with excitement and appeared to really get into teaching the students about batik.

She said she is living the dream, taking time to be an artist, settling into her own studio in a beautiful town, teaching, being creative, and selling her art. Brown and her mother, Linda Krug, did the vendors’ routine for about six years, setting up tables and tents on sidewalks and fields at art and craft shows in Colorado.

“It’s perfect having a studio and retail store and not have to set up and take down displays,” Brown said.

Nicole Brown shows her wall of fused glass.Brown, a 38-year-old art teacher, wife and mother of two, always wanted to teach abroad. She thought about China, because she has a brother there, but her family decided that would be too difficult a place to adjust to. She applied for a job listed in the Virgin Islands Department of Education job postings.

“The jobs could be on St. Thomas or St. Croix,” Brown said. “I didn’t have a choice.”

Brown got a job last fall teaching art at St. Croix Central High School. She said she was thrilled with the location – until she ended up working in the worst possible year for Central with a major sewer problem and the doubling up of students at St. Croix Educational Complex High School.

“It was a risk to move here,” Brown said with a wide smile. “But things are working out fine. Opening the studio was the best thing that could happen for me.”

Brown said she saw a need for art classes for children, since a lot of schools on St. Croix have eliminated art class. Brown is an advocate for art education. She is offering glass workshops and other art classes for students of all ages. Folks can try their hand at making a pendant and she will hold birthday parties for children at which they can choose to make a glass bug or pendant.

Danielle Petersen, 14, a student at Free Will Baptist School, was working on a batik during fiber arts class last Saturday.

“I love this art class and I look forward to coming to class,” Petersen said. “I’m inspired to do new projects.”

Brown describes herself as a mixed-media artist. Photography is her first love, but she also enjoys working with fabric such as silk and hand dying.

Fused glass is layered and melts into itself when it’s kiln fired creating pretty streaks and striations, Brown said. There are three types of glass – cold for stained glass, warm for fused glass, and hot for blown glass. She jazzes up the pendants with shells, sand dollars, fish and other found materials.

Brown has printed a decal made from her black and white photo prints and adheres them to glass. In this process she designs a vintage looking plaque of St. Croix scenes done in a sepia or red color ink.

Brown has a bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University and a masters from Lesley University in Boston. She has taught professionally for 15 years, teaching high school photography in Colorado before she moved to St. Croix.

More information and details on the studio and classes are available online at www.trueblueartstudio.com. The studio is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Sundays when cruise ships are in port.

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