Alberta Society of Artists, Society of Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engravers

Mary Annora Brown was born on a homestead near Red Deer, Alberta, and raised in Fort MacLeod, in Southern Alberta. Her father was a member of the North Western Mounted Police, and her mother was a schoolteacher. Annora also went on to teach, but after several years made the decision to attend the Ontario College of Art, where her instructors included Arthur Lismer and J.E.H. MacDonald. Upon returning to Alberta, in 1929, she taught at Mount Royal College in Calgary before returning to Fort MacLeod in 1931. Here, she taught handicrafts for the University of Alberta (Faculty of Extension). Then, between 1945 and 1950, she taught at the Banff School of Fine Arts.

Brown’s work was influenced by her surroundings in Fort MacLeod, and she was particularly interested in local wildflowers and plants. Unlike many other female landscape painters of this time, Brown’s work was not influenced by that of the Group of Seven, but rather reflected an earlier English style that was gentler in its approach. Her 1954 book “Old’ Man’s Garden”, combines her love of nature with her recollections of stories and legends from the Old Man River region; it is filled with the artist’s illustrations of flora and fauna. Brown travelled and hiked extensively in Alberta to capture wildflowers during the different seasons. Her knowledge of the subject was so extensive, that she was commissioned by the Glenbow Foundation to create 200 paintings of various species of Alberta wildflowers – after working three years to complete the assignment, she had created 500 works.

Annora Brown joined the Calgary Sketch Club and became the first female member of the Alberta Society of Artists. In addition to publishing “Old Man’s Garden,”, she produced illustrations for a number of children’s books. She showed her work with the Art Association of Montreal, the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour, the National Gallery of Canada and the Ontario Society of Artists.