Meet Welsh artist Georgia Bailey (@georgiabaileypaintings) – she’s based in Australia and creature-obsessed. Her realistic animal portraiture combines natural beauty with striking scenery, all in vibrant acrylic colours. Find out more about her creative journey down below!  

What would you tell your younger self?

You can chill out. You’ll spend years trying to be sensible… studying medicine/ticking boxes... and then accidentally build a second career painting frogs with their iced lattes. So I’d tell her to maybe embrace the chaos and thank the burn out?

Do you come from a creative family?

Absolutely not! I think I’m the family glitch.

Where do get creative inspiration for your hyper-realistic acrylic art?

I really tried to be insightful/deep about answering this question but honestly the process goes something like this:

Gorillas are cute

...But what about a gorilla looking all existential over a cosmo? *Gets easel out*

If you were a song, what genre would you be?

Something upbeat… maybe jazzy, slightly feral, and two verses too long.

What’s something you were nervous about starting, that turned out amazing?

‘Turtley Awesome’ by a mile! He’s my biggest piece so I was slightly intimidated by the massive white canvas glaring back at me. I actually remember stepping back and thinking ‘where do I start!?’. I guess I was nervous about it looking like a loaf of bread but now I talk about it like it’s my firstborn.

What’s your fave season?

My favourite season has to be winter! But I specifically mean the winter in the build up to Christmas. Hot chocolate, fires, roast dinners, Christmas jumpers, the perfect excuse to stay inside and just eat.

What do you do when creative project just isn’t working? Any advice for fellow creators out there?

Good question and I feel every artist hits a brick wall! For me, it’s usually because I’m not in the right headspace to be creative at the time. Whether that’s due to stress/lack of sleep/or if I’ve spent 8 days straight on a piece and I’m fed-up staring at it. This is usually my checklist of questions:

1.  Have you eaten?

2.  Are you well slept/caffeinated?

3. Have you asked your mam what she thinks about your painting? (Approach with caution - she’s usually brutally honest!)

If I’ve boxed all those off and I’m still not feeling it… then I usually start another painting and come back to it. Sometimes you need a little break to become unstuck. And hey, if that doesn’t happen then remember it’s just a painting - hakuna matata!

What’s an art medium that you love and one that’s more of a challenge?

I’m such an acrylic girlie! So easy to use, easy to clean up and I love the way it dries super quickly so I can paint over my big fat mistakes/forget they ever happened. I guess that’s why I shy away from oils… they’re a grown up medium right?

If you had no time frame, what would you love to make?

Probably a GIANT mural of all my chaotic animals. The whole cast together in one ridiculous colourful universe. Or like one big, caffeinated Noah’s ark. It would probably take years, but I’d love every second.

What does your dream studio look like?

I was actually talking to my mam about this last week because I have this very specific vision. Picture this… beachside studio, floods of natural light, me in a floaty dress bare-footed, wine in one hand, brush in the other. Paint everywhere (ideally none on my dress) surrounded by my unhinged animals with zero concept of time. Incredible.

Welp, that was inspiring! Georgia has taught us to:

1.    Embrace chaos.

2.    Paint what makes you happy.

3.    Stress less, create more.

See more of @georgiabaileypaintings by checking out our gallery, where her art journey is featured, or hopping onto her website. Stock up on acrylics and canvas to explore creature painting at home. If you feel ready to paint, #montmarteart or tag us @montmarteart on Instagram or Facebook. We’d love to see what you come up with!

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