David Brown is an American contemporary artist, known for his landscapes and portraiture of his local community of Old Saybrook, Connecticut. He lives and works in what has become known as the "Hay House". It is the oldest such structure east of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

.''Who Needs Gingerbread?'' The New York Times
/ref> Brown had a solo exhibition in November 2004 at the

Florence Griswold Museum The Florence Griswold Museum is an Art Museum at 96 Lyme Street in Old Lyme, Connecticut centered on the home of Florence Griswold (1850–1937), which was the center of the Old Lyme Art Colony, a main nexus of American Impressionism. The Museum is ...

Old Lyme, Connecticut Old Lyme is a coastal town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The main street of the town, Lyme Street, is a historic district with several homes once owned by sea captains. Lyme Academy of Fine Arts is located in Old Lyme and ther ...

. The exhibition featured a series of weekly landscapes of dusk and dawn from his home, a collection of portraits of people from the local community, and importantly, a set of four life size interiors of his home, the Hay Hous

Brown's home is a one room cement home insulated with hay, called a 'hay house', with no electricity or running water. He has fields where he grows a variety of produce, to live on or to sell. “The message of the Hay House is ‘this is more than enough,” explains Brown. “I live better that 90% of the world’s population. My artwork is about appreciating what we have.�

Brown lived in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

during the 1970s, and taught art and English. Later, he worked for

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

and the government of India Department of Tourism as a photographer. Back in the United States, he worked as Operations Director for the Tibetan Cultural Center of Connecticut

Brown was the subject of a documentary by Jeannie Newman, David Brown and the Hay Hous

about his way of life. On May 1, 2007, Brown's studio and much of his artwork was destroyed by fire. On November 4 and November 17, 2007, Brown held a public "

barn raising A barn raising, also historically called a raising bee or rearing in the U.K., is a collective action of a community, in which a barn for one of the members is built or rebuilt collectively by members of the community. Barn raising was particular ...

" at his property during which the studio was re-built. The new structure is insulated with bales of hay.

References

External links

Lymeline News "David Brown"
11/5/04 article on Florence Griswold Exhibit

Documentary on David Brown's life {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, David 21st-century American painters Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Old Saybrook, Connecticut Artists from Connecticut American male painters