Greenville Journal Feature
I'm so excited to share my feature in the Greenville Journal with y'all! The reporter was so great to visit me at home in my studio. We had a wonderful chat and I absolutely love the way she brought this whole article together!
You can read the article below, find it in print in the Greenville Journal, or access it online by clicking here!
Art has always been the choice for Artisphere Crowd Favorite winner
By Cindy Landrum – Updated July 23, 2015
Source: Greenville Journal
C. Brooke Ring likes to ‘paint things that make people happy’
C. Brooke Ring has always wanted to be an artist, but her career as one got off to an accidental start.
While she was a student at Furman University, a friend asked her to custom paint a cooler for her. When that friend posted a photo of her handiwork online, others asked how they could get one for themselves.
Ring started selling the coolers on Etsy, an online marketplace for handmade and vintage goods. Ring, who studied painting and graphic design, now sells her original paintings on the site.
“I’m launching my career at the right time,” said Ring, a 2012 Furman graduate who works as a graphic designer at Shannon Forest Christian School. “Social media has changed everything for artists. Artists have all these avenues for selling and connecting with customers online that they didn’t have before. I can reach a wider audience than I would if I had to rely on having my work in galleries.”
Ring was the Crowd Favorite winner in the Greenville Journal’s Facebook contest for Artisphere’s Artists of the Upstate juried exhibition. Her husband, Michael, actually submitted the entry.
“As a new young artist, it’s intimidating to enter a juried show because you face rejection,” she said. “I was kind of hesitant and nervous. Getting in and being selected the Crowd Favorite winner was affirmation that this is what I need to do.”
Instead of painting scenes on coolers, Ring’s work now consists of acrylic florals, marshes, beach scenes and abstracts.
“I like to paint things that make people happy,” she said. “My art won’t be dark and depressing. I want to remind people of happy times. My art is more of a happy, cheerful, uplifting brand.”
Ironically, the piece that earned Ring the Crowd Favorite was not a floral, marsh or beach scene. She painted “Ram’s Skull” for her husband’s “man room.”
“I’ve started working on a few more Southwestern manly pieces,” she said.
Ring’s background as a graphic designer informs her painting.
“It’s an interesting marriage,” she said. “I can see and appreciate clean lines. I have very straightforward compositions. I think in terms of a grid. I like simplified backgrounds. A lot of it is intuitive because of my graphic design background.”
Ring said she sees herself painting more abstracts and she wants to get more neutral colors in her palette. “I want to be more mature in color,” she said.
Before she started working as a graphic designer at Shannon Forest, Ring taught middle and high school art for a year.
She also teaches painting classes at Vino and Van Gogh.
Ring said during the next year, she will look to do more exhibits and would love to have her work in a gallery.
“I’ve never wanted to be anything other than an artist,” she said. “I’m fortunate to be an artist right now. It’s in to be crafty. There’s a huge movement toward makers. It’s a huge blessing to be an artist now.”