Meet Brook Page
Local artist Brook Page is a Rhode Island School of Design graduate with a bold and colorful art style. She is known for creating joyous artworks as well as murals featured in Trader Joe’s stores across the United States. This Q&A explores her journey as an artist, inspiration, and techniques.
When did you know you wanted to be an artist?
Always wanted to be an artist, even when I was a kid. I was the dorky little kid who had my zip-up portfolio, which I think I still have somewhere.
It’s what I’ve always loved and always excelled at. It’s the only thing I know how to do, and I do it well.
What are you inspired by?
I am inspired by color, light, and things that make me happy. I have to surround myself with that. I have a history of pretty heavy-duty depression, so this is kind of how I keep a lot of that at bay.
What themes do you explore in your work?
There’s a lot of elements of California that come back into my work. When I get kind of funky in my head, I’ve got to go back and like revisit those memories. So yeah, there’s the food, nostalgia, animals, and landscapes.
Brook Page takes a break from painting to pose next to her new mural. By Kathryn Hennessy.
What is your artistic process?
It varies. I usually come up with an idea at three in the morning, and then I am up and thinking for like two or three hours. It usually happens. Pretty quickly. I paint fast, I’ve been known for painting really fast. So, usually, it’s a quick brief sketch, and then I just start painting, and it’s just constant push and pull, bringing lights and colors back and forth until I get it to where I want it to be.
How do you approach public murals?
Public murals are complicated because you’ve got to get in all of the factors for what they want. You’ve got to be sensitive to what the public wants while bringing your own, you know, style and color through. So that’s the biggest part of these public murals is coming up with the ideas and planning.
Where can we find your work?
You can go to my website. I’m working on getting more things available for sale there. The CX904 and Dennis + Ives. in Downtown Jacksonville. I also do a lot of little markets around town. I bring a lot of my smaller pieces at great prices. I also do handmade; they’re Shrinky Dinks, actually. I make earrings out of Shrinky Dinks that I hand draw. So those are around the art markets and farmers markets, big sellers. I’m usually at the Nocatee Farmers Market. Sometimes the Vilano Farmers Market, the Feedmill Farmers Market, and sometimes the Atlantic Beach one.
Brook standing in front of her new mural titled “Our Wild Life”. This mural was commissioned by the St. Johns Cultural Council and is located next to the St. Augustine Pier.
Gallery
Roseate Spoonbill 18 x 24 oil on 2 panel
Mayport Sky – 36×48 oil on canvas
Magic Beach Motel 24×36 on canvas
Cherry Cola – 10×10 oil on panel
Blueberries and Circles 24 x24 on 2 panel
Barn Owl 16 x 16 oil on 2 panel
American Meadows package design
