We recently connected with Brianna Leidy and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Brianna thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

My parents did everything right and I truly cannot thank them enough for their support throughout my entire life. I have met many peers who wanted so badly to pursue an art of some kind, but the lack of support from their parents prevented them from doing so. At a very early age, I was already drawing animals (mostly our pets– we had a mini zoo, haha!). They were always so proud of my art and encouraged me to keep working at it. My mom would share my work with friends and soon enough, I started getting commission work as a young teenager. My mom helped me a lot when I was first starting out, whether it was finding clients or shipping paintings. As I grew older, I really struggled with deciding whether or not I wanted to get my BFA with a concentration in painting. It seemed like everyone, besides my family, was telling me I was wasting my time, that I would never be able to make a living as an artist. But, my parents pushed me to pursue it and thank goodness they did! I made life-long connections with other artists that I will forever cherish because of their belief in me.

When I graduated college the support I got from my parents was unreal. I was working unfulfilling jobs, not at all related to my passion of painting. Because of the support from my parents, I was able to quit these jobs and spend a good year or two studying how to become an official business, make a website, get my work and name out there, amongst many other things, while living under their roof. The whole time they were cheering me on. I no longer live with them, but they continue to be two of the biggest supporters in my life and I am so grateful to have them and their support.

Brianna , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My Pleasure! I am a full-time oil painter with a focus on pet portraiture. I work from my home studio in Eastern Pennsylvania and primarily do commission work on canvas. I aim to create life-like, realistic portraits of all animals– as well some occasional human portraits. The vast majority of my paintings feature dogs.

I have always been an avid animal and nature lover. From a very young age, I spent the majority of my time drawing the animals around me. Growing up, we had many pets of all types for me to study and draw! I worked with other mediums like colored pencils and acrylics, but around 12 years of age I completed my first oil painting of my childhood dog, Manny. I immediately fell in love with oils. Oil paints were the perfect medium for the type of work I wanted to create and it felt so natural using them. As I became a young teenager, family and friends would see and share my work and I began receiving my first commissions. I am now 25, and have been painting commissioned portraits since.

Not all, but a lot of the portraits I paint are painted as memorials. To be able to do this for my clients is such a gift. The tears of joy and pure happiness my work has created over the years is just one of many things that makes my job so rewarding. To be told by a client that it feels like their beloved pet, or sometimes family member, is back with them because of my work is an indescribable feeling.

My clients don’t always have the best photos of their pets, and this can be deeply upsetting to them especially if their pet has passed. My job is to create a piece of art that captures their pet even more so than their photo(s)– to create a painting that captures the soul and essence of their pet. Sometimes I will reference a single image for my paintings, but that is not always the case. I will often have clients who want a painting of all their pets together, or have their pet painted in a scenic environment that I invent. Photographs can’t aways achieve this (have you tried taking a perfect photo of 3 dogs all together? It is very hard, haha!) but it is something I am able to achieve through oil painting.

I very much “fell” into this profession and I am incredibly grateful and humbled. I never would have imagined I would be a full-time artist at the age of 25, with paintings in nearly every state. To say it has been easy to get to this point would not be true. There have been many obstacles thrown my way and I am so proud of myself for overcoming them and excited to continue to grow as an artist.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

There are so many rewarding aspects of being an artist… I can’t pick one! Being a commission-based artist, it is incredibly rewarding to create a painting for someone that is exactly what they envisioned. I love a challenge, and it is a great feeling to complete a more complex piece for my clients– and I love hearing “even better than I possibly could have imagined!” when they receive their painting.

Additionally, as an animal lover myself, I have bonded with so many of my clients throughout the process of painting their commission. I have met so many incredible people because of this job. Without a doubt, the most rewarding aspect is when a client receives their painting and tells me it feels like their loved pet is back with them, or that it feels like their soul has been captured in my work. I pour my heart into every commission I get and it is the greatest compliment I could receive,

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to spend many, many years unlearning that I can’t make a living as an artist. With my parents and family aside, I was constantly told that it was a ridiculous dream to pursue. In every job I had, as a teenager and throughout college, I was always met with a sneer when asked “what do you want to do with your life?”. This was a question I had to answer frequently in high school as well and was met with similar responses by many of my teachers. I felt embarrassed and thought maybe they were right– maybe I am pursuing something I shouldn’t be. Maybe there is nothing for me to pursue. As I was about to start college to earn my BFA, I can’t tell you how many people told me I was being ridiculous. These were people who had never even seen my work. It was just the fact that I was pursuing art. I doubted myself so hard after years of this, that I would find myself completely dodging the question or giving a false answer to the question “what do you want to do with your life?”

I am so happy to say, I no longer have an ounce of embarrassment left in me. I tell people I went to art school, I tell people I’m an artist, and I say it proudly.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.briannaleidy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannaleidyart/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/briannaleidyart/