Waycross is the home of a person who’s carved a niche of distinction in the world of fashion design.
Waycross? Yes, Waycross.
It’s the hometown of Diane Brown, who’s returned to her roots after more than three decades working and sharing her designs in the spotlight of the nation’s capital of fashion in and around New York City.
Brown offers Waycross its first look at her designs as well as other art work in a month-long exhibit at the Waycross-Ware County Public Library, 401 Lee Avenue. The show begins at 4 p.m. today (Wednesday, February 1) with a reception for Brown at the library.
If you grew up in Waycross in the 1960s and early ’70s you may know Brown, especially if you attended Waycross High. You may have even shared a class or two with her before she graduated in 1972.
Diane Brown? Doesn’t ring a bell.
How about Rebecca Brown? One in the same.
As one of five children, Brown said she’d always drawn as a child and into her teens. She said her three late brothers, as well as her sister, all had artistic talents of some sort.
“I don’t know that I was that good, but I enjoyed it,” she said of drawing.
Brown became involved in retail clothing while working part-time at J.C. Penney as a part of a school-related job program. After high school, a marriage to a man in the military took her abroad with his assignments where she continued working in retail clothing.
Exposure to the different cultures and fashion trends in Europe while living and working in Germany helped her decide a career in design was what she wanted.
With her marriage ending, Brown returned to Waycross in the late 1980s, which led to meeting her current husband, who grew up in Blackshear. Her sister, Bell Hunter, was acquainted with a cousin of Robert “Bob” Brown, and knowing his background as a professional artist introduced the two so he could critique her work.
“She brought about 3,000 (drawings),” he recalled laughing.
Bob, who had been a professional illustrator in New York, operated as a professional artist manager. He took on Diane, who is the mother of three and grandmother of 11, as a student.
“He showed me how to make my art even better,” she said.
Although it took a while, the teacher-pupil relationship transitioned to one that involved dating and finally marriage.
“We started dating and found we liked each other,” said Diane.
Added Bob: “It took her a while to make up her mind (on marriage).”
Bob decided he wanted to return to the northeast in the 90s so the offer went to Diane to join him. She did, and they’ve been married for 24 years.
It was in the New York metro area that Diane’s work flourished. She was introduced to the Photoshop computer program in the early 2000s and illustrations that already were eye-catching jumped from the page.
“It enhanced my work even more,” she said. “(Bob) taught me how to scan my work and add backgrounds. I couldn’t believe the difference.”
Working at Bloomingdale’s in Hackensack, N.J., was another key point of Brown’s design evolution. She received significant training during her decade with the major retailer, and discovered her ideas and work might have been ahead of their time.
“I was able to see so many different things in fashion,” she said. “I also realized I had drawn many of them before they were even made.”
About four years ago, Bob had his fill of a second stint in the metro area where he worked as a Procurement Officer at New Jersey Institue of Technology and wanted to retire. He started scouting houses for a return home for the two.
Diane, who was nearing retirement age, didn’t realize her husband was serious until he told her he’d spoken with a mortgage company in Waycross and they needed to talk with her, too.
“I said, ‘you are serious about this, aren’t you,’” she recalled.
And with that, the move was set in motion. Her interest in fashion and art transferred with all the Brown belongings.
Diane has had her work on display a handful of times at shows starting in 2006. Her husband said she was the “hit of the show” at that first outing.
“I was amazed,” recalled Diane, who was still at her job when the exhibit opened, upon hearing from Bob.
The pair had their own gallery (Brown Ink Gallery & Fashion Artist/Designer) in Palisades Park & Vauxhall, N.J., until moving. The exhibit here came at her husband’s urging.
“I told her it’d been a while since she had shown her work, and it would be nice to include people here,” he said.
So if you remember Rebecca Brown with her colored pencils sketching women in a variety of fashions and poses across the table in study hall, you might want to visit the library to see what Diane Brown has built from that foundation.
The exhibit is on display until February 28 during the library’s operating hours of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday and Thursday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday and Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. It contains 32 pieces, four of which are paintings.
