About
The Artist
Brittany Bailey
Visual Artist
A Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minnesota-based artist creating art that is special to people who see it, experience it, and hang artwork on their walls.
ARTWORK FOR THE SOUL
Brittany’s portraits of people’s loved ones, pets, and places are hand-drawn. Her original artwork begins with her taking photos with a 35mm film camera while living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and exploring and traveling.
“One of my first jobs, at sixteen years old, was drawing real-life portraits of people at the largest mall in the United States.” – Brittany
Brittany graduated from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, with a degree in Fine Arts spending most of her time exploring three-dimensional artwork and learning how to cast metal. After a decade of metal casting experience, her sculptures traveled to the Missoula Art Museum in Montana and Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas. The two art exhibits were hosted and juried by the Western Cast Iron Art Alliance (WCIAA) for the Western Cast Iron Art Conference.
Later, Brittany began focusing on two-dimensional artwork and returned to creating custom portraiture for customers, all of which she had done exclusively before college. Whether it’s casting metal, painting, or portraiture work, making art from the soul and capturing a feeling or moment with emotion and motion motivates and inspires her.
“As a friend of mine and I were walking around the mall I told her it was my dream to work at a gallery we had passed by several times that day. The artists working there drew people’s portraits super quick and accurate! To my horror, my friend walked over to the manager and said “my friend wants to work here”. The manager gave me a photograph to draw and return, and when I brought the drawing back I was hired. I worked at the gallery drawing live portraits and portraits from photographs for almost six years with some of the most talented artists I know. The experience changed my life path and my relationship with art.” – Brittany
Throughout her career, Brittany has taught painting, portrait classes, and other art forms. Her experience ranges from instructing large groups of professional artists to folks who have not picked up a paintbrush since grade school. No matter the person, she believes art has a positive impact and a healing nature.
“I have drawn people from all over the world, with all different backgrounds and as I continue to create custom artwork, I can’t help but notice the reaction of others. Folks are genuinely happy to receive custom artwork, special to them, to bring home to hang on their wall. It’s a large reason why I continue creating this type of work. It’s a very special process to be part of.” – Brittany
With various mediums: oil paint, chalk pastels, charcoal, ink, acrylic paint, some metal sculpture, and digital art (like the illustrations you see on this website), Brittany’s goal is to visually capture life around her as she experiences it in a way that is relatable to others and uplifts their space and spirits.