By Megan Murphy
Copy Editor
Madison Brown, 15, is a dual credit student at Crowder who recently took 1st place in 2D Art at the student art show.
Like any community college, most students at Crowder are either wrapping up their second semester or preparing to graduate. Art student Madison Brown falls into the first category, but there’s one big difference– she’s fifteen. As a high-school student, Brown has already taken several of her required courses here at Crowder in addition to testing out of English 101 and Algebra.
“This semester, I’m taking Graphic Design I and English Comp II. Last semester, I took Drawing I, Painting I, Music Appreciation, Theatre Appreciation and College Orientation,” Brown said. “I’ve always loved art; it’s always been something I’ve done my whole life. It wasn’t actually until a year or two ago I realized that I wanted to go into [a career] that had art.”
“This has been great, coming to Crowder and having the different art classes,” she added. “I really like anything that’s artsy and creative.”
In addition to her classroom accomplishments, Brown is also a talented artist, who also likes to write and play musical instruments. She recently took first place in the 2D division of the student art show.
“I wasn’t there when they had actually announced it– I was at class the next day and people said I had won something in the art show, and I wasn’t expecting that. So when [they told me] I won first in 2D, I was like ‘Wow!’ because the whole semester I had been thinking ‘I don’t really like this painting’ and ‘It doesn’t look right’, so it was really nice to see [that] oh, I’m actually good at this,” Brown laughed.
As a homeschooled student, Brown takes her college classes on the days she doesn’t have work at home. She plans to transfer to a four-year school and get a degree in art or graphic design after finishing at Crowder.
“I’m going to try and graduate in 2019 with my associates degree. I’m actually trying to get a dual associates in art and design and graphic design. I would like to be either a concept artist or illustrator for books.”
In her spare time, she does illustrations and concept art for friends’ projects and has had her writing and poems published in online magazines as well as newsletters for Christian schools.
“I have a friend who’s an author, and she’s asked me to do some illustrations for one of her short stories, so I really think it’s about just looking for opportunities. If there’s a job opening, have some work ready that you can show people.”
Brown is currently working on several projects that she hopes to finish before next semester. This summer, she plans to travel and visit national parks.
The key to being successful, Brown says, is to practice lots.
“Find things that interest you, because even though I love drawing, there are some things that I don’t like drawing, so find the things that interest you. Always be looking for opportunities to do things.”
A watercolor illustration of an elephant and rabbit by Madison Brown.
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