Derby senior Ashley Heady, a 21st Century Journalism student, wrote this feature as part of her final project.

Natalie Brown is a passionate artist and teacher who is always looking to learn and teach about the many different forms of art.

When Brown first tried her hand at art, it was more of her mother’s interest than her own.

“My first class I ever took in ceramics i was probably in fifth grade,” Brown said. “My mom wanted to take an art class but she wanted me to go with her and do a mother-daughter thing so she made me sign up for an art class and I signed up for clay.”

Brown continued to take art classes in high school even though she believes she was not very good at it at the time. But it wasn’t until college that she started to develop appreciation for the arts.

“I was in college and I was taking art as a an elective and I did OK, but I was skipping my organic chemistry labs that I was taking for pre-vet medicine,” Brown said.

“I thought ‘you know what maybe this is telling me something’ and realized that I really enjoyed the process in making stuff and I liked the educational environment,” Brown said. “And it lead me here to art education.”

From there Brown developed her devotion and passions to several different art forms.

“Clay in particular it’s like a love of mine; here’s something about the feel of holding it in your hands that I really treasure,” Brown said.   

Brown enjoys creating art in other forms such as jewelry, watercolor painting and photography, but ceramics and jewelry are the ones she enjoys the most.

“I sometimes try to even incorporate like clay into jewelry and jewelry or wire techniques into my clay,” Brown said.

For most creating art is a way of expressing oneself, but for Brown it’s more of a relaxing habit.

“It’s almost a meditative process it’s very calming and peaceful for me; to create art you get into a what I consider a right brain mode where it’s non-lingual and you can really focus on what you’re doing,” Brown said. “Some people call it ‘the zone,’ but there are other terms for it.”

On top of creating art Brown teaches art classes such as advanced Clay Wheel, advanced Sculpture, AP 3D Design, and Art Appreciation and is the Visual Arts Department Chair at Derby High.

Brown hopes for her students to be able to believe in themselves and their art long after they leave her classes.

“If nothing else them believing that they can create art,” Brown said. “A lot of times kids are like ‘I’m not creative’ or ‘I can’t do things’ and I hope that by time their done they feel like they can be a creative person.”

One of her students, Jaden Jacks, believes that Brown is the biggest influence in her decision to become an aspiring artist.

“If it wasn’t for taking her class I wouldn’t have taken my chances with being an artist,” Jacks said. “I would have just stuck with accounting or go into psychology and be a therapist. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be doing what I love for a living.”

Both Jacks and her classmate Stephanie Mitchell agree that Brown is a kind and encouraging teacher who truly gets to know her students.

“She tries to get to know her students on a personal level; with some students it is harder while others not so much,” Jacks said. “Take me for example When I first started to take clay, she didn’t know much about me; now I can talk to her about pretty much anything.”

“She is kind and encourages all of us to be our absolute best,” Mitchell said.  

Mitchell believe that it is because of Brown that they have learned so much about not only themselves but art as well.

“I’ve learned that there is more to art then how it looks and you should use art to tell your story,” Mitchell said.

Even after school has let out for summer vacation, Brown still finds way to not only create art and teach it but to learn from other artists and their experience.

During her summers Brown spends her time on the Board of Kansas Art Education Association, helping to plan conferences. When given the opportunity, Brown also trains with other artists to broaden her knowledge of different art forms and techniques. This summer she will be training with Carl Long, a fellow Kansan artist.

Brown also finds time to wok on her art and do yard work, and she works with Monart, an art school in Wichita during her summer vacation.

Though art is a major part of Brown’s life and who she is, she is also a proud and loving wife and mother of two.

Brown and her husband, John, have been married for over 25 years. John works for Integrated Consulting Engineers in Wichita and together they have two children.

Their son, Timothy, is 26 years old and is currently work towards a Doctorates Degree in Material Science and Engineering at Texas A&M.

Inspiration and influence of art that Brown creates and teaches didn’t stay inside the classroom. Brown’s daughter, Elia, decided on a career path much closer to heart and home.

Elia is in her third year at Emporia State University and is pursuing a degree in Art Education so that she can teach art like her mother.

“She grew up with an art teacher, so we always had art supplies readily available,” Brown said. “Any time she was in an art class she was like ‘oh i need to buy’ i’m like ‘no you don’t need to buy it we got all of this stuff at home’  so we always had that resource available to her.”

Brown’s love for the arts has lead her daughter and many of her students to follow their passions and believe in themselves and their creativity.