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Today I have the pleasure of introducing you guys to the art of the incredible Betty Brown. Brown is a biracial artist from Nottingham in the UK who specialises in pin ups and illustrations. Her Instagram tag line is ‘I’m here to represent you’, and for many marginalised people, Brown’s art is one of the few they will see themselves represented in.
‘Hairy Babes’ by Betty Brown
In Brown’s art you see stretch marks, femmes with hairy legs, fat bellies, afro hair, women of colour, non-binary babes, disabled gals, feminist tattoos, vitiligo, masectomy scars, LGBTQ* dolls and so so much more. I have never seen so many different body types, and so many underrepresented people portrayed in one artist’s portfolio. Many artists tend to focus on one particular kind of body, even most popular artists who draw plus size bodies tend to focus on white bodies. In Brown’s work she is sure to showcase as many black women as possible, her artwork is truly the most diverse and inclusive I’ve ever seen.
‘Nyma Tang’ by Betty Brown
Brown works in both digital and traditional art forms, and one of the things I love most about her social media is that she shows her work as she creates it, showing the different stages of it’s creation. She also regularly shows older work alongside her newer work to show how far she has come in a short space of time due to her dedication and practice. For any aspiring artist, this can only be so inspirational! To see a young artist come on in such leaps and bounds proves is amazing.
‘Kit’ and ‘Taraji’ from Betty’s Babes colouring book by Betty Brown.
One of Brown’s most recent ventures was a colouring booked called ‘Betty’s Babes’, available for purchase from her online store. I bought it for myself and it is just an absolute delight! There are hours of colouring to be done, and seeing bodies not only like mine, which is so rarely shown in traditional art forms, but to see so many other bodies that the media neglects fills my heart with glee. Brown works constantly to make sure she is doing everything she can to show as many different types of people as possible and it shows.
‘Khali’ by Betty Brown
Brown’s work is just a constant source of delight and I cannot wait to see what she produces next. Keep your eye on her, I am sure she’ll be doing huge things in 2019!