The Martha's Vineyard Times

Father and daughter show at Featherstone

June 29, 2011

Photo by Jerilyn Brown

Father and daughter in a Far Cry dory. [More Photos]

It's a father and daughter who have teamed up to present a show unique to the Island. Opening tonight Thursday, June 30, at Featherstone Center for the Arts, local boat-builder Rick Brown and his daughter Emme Brown, Featherstone's Peeble Gallery curator, each in separate, eclectic, but related ways, offer their creative tribute to the Island's seafarers.

It's a first for Mr. Brown, founder of Far Cry Boats at Maciel Marine in Vineyard Haven, and listening to him describe his work, it's clear he finds the experience of showing his craft in a gallery setting exciting.

For the show, Mr. Brown has built a 20-foot-long wooden bridge of marine plywood. Four feet high and about 3-1/2 feet wide, the orange bridge, flanked by three of his hand-crafted wooden dorys, will be displayed outside Featherstone's Pebble Gallery.

Emme Brown, who uses her father's boat-building shop as the source of both inspiration and materials — canvas, rope, rust, wood, boat paint — creates mixed media paintings and paintings on found materials, art books, and a series of linoleum prints, etchings, woodcuts, and monotypes that reflect the Island's seaside life.

Ms. Brown says, "Location affects my material choice, which then affects my process, all lending my Island upbringing around a dusty boat shop as the source of my inspiration and art."

She adds, "Both of my parents are incredibly creative people. My mother has instilled in me a wonderful sense of design and color."

Opening reception for the work of Rick and Emme Brown is Thursday, June 30 from 4 to 6 pm. The show runs through July 3 in the Peeble Gallery at Featherstone Center for the Arts, off Barnes Rd., Oak Bluffs. 508-693-1850.