We recently connected with Kathryn Bailey and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kathryn, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I always knew that I loved art, and creating in general; but it wasn’t until I graduated from high school, and went to college that I realized how serious I was about it. I actually thought I wanted to pursue a career with horses, because that had been my main passion up until that point. It was my first semester at Mott Community College when I took an art history course that I realized how interested I was in being an artist. My professor had us all do a still life drawing, and I was hooked from then on. After a couple semesters at Mott, I went on to Michigan State University and pursued a Fine Arts Degree with a focus on Painting and Graphic Design; I graduated from MSU in 2018, and I suppose that’s when my art career truly began!

Kathryn, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Kathryn Bailey, I’m an abstract impressionistic oil paint artist. I love creating thick textures using a palette knife, and my main goal is not to capture what our world really looks like, but what it feels like to me. My focus right now is on florals; my grandfather passed away in 2014 and my life just hasn’t felt normal since. He was a constant in our family. One of the people that you could always count on to be there for you for literally whatever you needed, and one day he was just taken from us. I have fought depression on and off for the last almost ten years, and it wasn’t until I started painting these florals that I really started to understand my grief and healing; to me, flowers show time passing in a way that nothing else really does – sprouting, blooming, death – and it happens so quickly.
No matter what you do, time passes and you can’t stop it. It doesn’t care if you’re not ready. It just flows on, taking anything and everything from you. So I paint flowers to try to capture some of that time back, I suppose.

Another major thing that influences my work is that I was born without hands, and only four toes on each foot (which is called a quadrilateral limb deficiency). Because of this, I’ve never truly felt like I belonged anywhere outside of my family (and a few friends who are like family). They loved me and accepted me exactly how I was, but for the most part, if I’m in public, I just feel like an outsider, hyper-aware of how different I really am; and on the days when it was particularly bad, the only places I ever wanted to be were with my horses or out in the woods behind our house. Nature is forgiving, and horses give you so much freedom and love; they give you a purpose. They don’t care who you are or what you look like. They just need you to love them.

Lastly, the major life event that has altered me to my core is that in 2021 I had my son. Up until that point, if I wanted to figure out how to do something, I would; and if I didn’t think I could do it, I just wouldn’t try (although that didn’t happen very much, I was pretty stubborn). However, for the first time in my life, I truly had to face all of my inadequacies and struggles. I couldn’t just shove them down and pretend like they didn’t exist. I had to ask for help more than I’ve ever had to in my life. I depended so much on my mom and husband to help me take care of our son, and I felt a crushing guilt and embarrassment that I couldn’t do it all on my own. I struggled badly for awhile, my patience for myself wore thin, and every time I saw myself in the mirror, I didn’t like what I saw, in fact, I’ve never loathed who I was more. Minor struggles that wouldn’t have phased me before – ones that I would’ve seen as an opportunity to prove myself – became soul-crushing obstacles. I can’t even begin to count the amount of times I would end up in tears because I couldn’t do a simple task on the first try.
But life moves on, and we adjust to our new “normal”. I recognize now that just because I need help with things like changing a diaper or zipping up little pajamas, it doesn’t make me less of a mom. It doesn’t make me less of a person. I am adequate. I’m learning to love myself again, although the process is slow at times.
I am, however, proud of how far I have come. My son is the greatest blessing of my life, and I thank God every day for giving him to me.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My main goal while creating art is to spread love, kindness and encourage others who might be struggling. That’s always been the goal for me. In my opinion, the more people I can meet and love, the more successful I am. I hope when you look at my work you feel a sense of belonging. Everyone should feel welcome anywhere, and loving others and being kind should be our top priority.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I honestly think the most helpful thing a person can do to support an artist to just follow along on their creative journey, and maybe tell a friend (or two) about them. The hardest part about being an artist (for me) is just being seen. Social media is saturated with so much content that it’s easy to get buried under whatever topic is trending today. So, in my opinion, the most helpful thing someone can do is just be there and support the journey.      

Contact Info:

• Website: www.createdbykathryn.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/createdbykathryn.art/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/createdbykathrynbailey
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM57xSNWotr8idFeZDRuswA
• E-mail: kathryn@createdbykathryn.com