AntheaBrownHats

For many years I had my own bricks and mortar hat shop, Browns, opposite the LA Louver art gallery in Venice, California. When we came to LA from London in the 70s my husband and I bought a 1920s warehouse building in Venice where we raised our family while working on hats, antique furniture and art. Soon I was designing and making hats for other stores in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. This was at the beginning of a very creative time in Venice and it was exciting to be part of it.
I have always liked to experiment in different mediums which is how I became a milliner. I often admired the stylish hats I saw in shop windows in London but I never thought about opening a hat shop until we came to Venice. There didn't seem to be many hats or great hat shops when we arrived, even though it was always sunny. Before coming to California I was an art teacher and practicing artist in West London. I had enjoyed making sculpture as part of my course at Art College and found the experience of working in 3D very helpful in designing hats.
In 2010 I joined Ten Women Gallery, an artists coop, on Abbott Kinney Blvd in Venice. Later we moved to Montana Ave in Santa Monica, in a great neighborhood. I joined Ten Women Main St two years ago as a print maker and milliner. We have a large airy space on Main St in Santa Monica, with 30 artists making art and functional art.