Artist in Residence Works Featured in Farmington Hills City Gallery

Intriguing baskets by artist Allen Brown, the Farmington Area Art Commission’s 2012 Artist in Residence, will be on exhibit through March 1 at the Farmington Hills City Gallery in the Costick Center.

William Allen Brown is a talented basket weaver whose free-form creations include natural fibers woven into fluent shapes. Brown never creates two baskets alike but lets the materials, which often include horns or antlers, determine the direction of the design.

Brown’s career as an artist began when he retired from his downtown Farmington dental practice and was searching for a way to expand his creativity. With the decision to include antlers in his basket weaving, he was back to using a small drill again – this time to make holes in the antlers and horns to weave the reed into the material. Soon, conventional baskets became reed sculptures, as Brown challenged himself to create new forms while attempting to make the basket designs as intricate as possible.

Brown is a member of the Association of Michigan Basketmakers and the National Basket Organization and has won many awards for his creative designs and precise technique. His beautiful woven artwork can also be seen at the Twisted Fish Gallery in Elk Rapids. Brown is a resident of Farmington Hills; he moved here with his wife in 1968 after returning from military duty in Vietnam.

The City Gallery is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and by special request.

For more information, call the Cultural Arts Division at 248-473-1856.  

Source: City of Farmington Hills press release