You’re never too young to dream – such is the philosophy of my my 12 year old, next-to-the-oldest son, Christopher J. Brown, who has nurtured his love for art since his introduction to it as a toddler. While I’ve spent time drawing with all four of my boys, Christopher’s interest surpassed them all as he spent countless hours with pencil, paper and palettes. His discipline and thoughtfulness have often inspired me. Whether watching him research items he could recreate online via YouTube videos or observing his hand-drawn comic books, Christopher has demonstrated a tenacity that excites me because I love his commitment to his passion.
Christopher is a young Dreamcatcher. He has explored art for the last seven years in his spare time, through art curriculum at school and in summer programs at the Glassell School of Art for Children in Houston, Texas. He now looks forward to attending an art school in college. He reads about it, takes note of various artists in the industry when he can and informs me about trends in technology related to the field in which he hopes to one day be immersed.
Blending his love for culture, which was influenced by his early exposure to foreign language, he has adopted a parallel love for diversity with aspirations for global travel. I am elated to raise a Dreamcatcher of my own who’s not afraid to take on adventure and is open to learning how to invest in himself and his passion to pave the way for his own future. Please help me celebrate Dreamcatcher Christopher J. Brown.
What do you feel you are meant to do in the present and in the future?
I would really like to start my own professional comic books, but not in a way that is guided by other people’s rules. I want to continue my study of art, but in a way that is fun and creative like I am. I enjoy learning about new ways of doing art, and my favorites are developing animations, using a broad color palette, working with ink and sculpting with mixed media.
What happened in your life that made you choose this dream?
Looking at cartoons every week on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network first made me interested in drawing on my own. Later on, I shared my comics with a group of friends at my elementary school. We all drew together, and I began selling my comic books that I made by hand. I was able to sell more because when I drew my characters and wrote the stories, I put the customers’ names in them. It helped me earn enough money to purchase other items that I could sell and add money to my savings. I knew this was something I wanted to learn more about and become a better artist.
What would people be surprised to know about you?
That I spent four years learning Mandarin Chinese. I loved Chinese art that I learned from my teacher Ms. Ling, because it looks very different from American Art. Making Chinese characters on a special scroll with paintbrushes to write in Chinese even felt like art, and what she taught me also got me interested in origami. I’ve made pieces that I sold, and I enjoy the different things you can do just by folding paper. My mom recorded me speaking in Chinese and Spanish when I was 8, and it got over 40,000 views and that was really cool!
When people see what you’re striving for, what would you want them to think about?
Encourage kids to use whatever supplies they have available. Even if they don’t have something fancy, you can make amazing art with many things that are already in the places where you live. I’ve made art with glue, paper clips, paper plates, rubber bands, aluminum foil, post it notes, printer paper, cardboard boxes and a lot of other cool stuff that I just found at home.
What can they do to help you fulfill this dream?
They can let me know if they hear something about different art schools for college in the Houston, Texas area.
Dr. Carla Michelle Brown * Speaker * author * Educator 