FACes & PlaceS
LOCAL COLOR June 2005

Doris Brandes
by Marilyn Bullock

[Editor's Note: Doris left us a couple of weeks ago. I will miss seeing her at every art event in town. Keep smiling Doris! Your smile is what I will remember - that and your never ending array of colorful scarves!]

(This article was first printed in Faces & Places in 2002.)

Doris Brandes is everywhere these days - physically AND in print. There are articles about her and her new book, "Artists of the River Towns" in the local newspapers and in the August issue of Nouveau Magazine. I personally ran into Doris four times in one week! Anywhere there is art, there is Doris.

Doris was born in Brooklyn, NY. Her father was a successful businessman and her mother was a high-diver, once known as "The Diving Belle." Doris always knew that she wanted to be an artist. (She wanted to be a tap dancer too but that is about the only thing she HASN'T done.) She went to the Pratt Institute on a scholarship and graduated with a BFA in fashion design.

Before she was out of college, however, Doris and a friend started a company called "Witch Craft", which quickly became a nationally known "prop shop." Witch Craft designed and created props for some of the most prestigious New York department stores and shipped orders to customers all over the country. When the "never been shy" Doris was offered a job as display director for a 156 store chain, she sold her stake in Witch Craft and moved on.

Soon after, Doris got married and moved to the Philadelphia suburbs. When her four children were small, Doris started a weekend art program for kids called "Hidden House Creative Workshop for Children." This program came into being because Doris was not satisfied with the art program at her children's schools. During the 60's and 70's, Doris was a mother, a freelance artist, and sometimes teacher at the Abington Art Center. She continued to produce artwork, concentrating on printmaking and fabric art, and exhibiting in galleries along the East Coast.

In 1981, after a divorce and remarriage, Doris started Art Matters, a regional publication that is devoted to promoting the visual arts in the greater Philadelphia area and which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. During this time, Doris also worked in a 14 week Comcast Cable series for Art Matters. The series consisted of an assortment of interviews of artists and the cable shows were replayed eight times per week. Doris worked at Art Matters until 1993 when she finally retired from the hectic life of commuting so she could concentrate on new projects.

Around 1986 Doris moved to New Hope, where she still resides. In 1993, Doris was a founding member of Artsbridge, the non-profit arts organization for the New Hope/Lambertville area ("bridging" the community.) Doris was also one of the founding members of the Michener Art Museum (1987) and has served on its board ever since.

Professionally, Doris has been writing articles on and about the art scene since the beginning of Art Matters. Currently, her articles are featured in the New Hope Gazette, the Lambertville Beacon, The Area Guide Book, Prime Time Magazine, and, of course, her new book, "Artists of the River Towns", Doris' latest project - the first of four books that each feature 50 local artists. You can purchase "Artists of the River Towns" at the New Hope Visitor Center, at Farley's Bookstore, at the Michener Museum, and at various shops and galleries around town. Booksignings are scheduled throughout September and October. Contact Doris for details artbuz@erols.com.

Somehow, despite everything else she does, Doris manages to keep fit through yoga and walking. If I were a betting person, I'd pretty much bet the ranch that, before too long, Doris decides to finally take up that tap dancing career that she never fulfilled!