Light after dark

Two portraits of Grace Bailey’s son Elliott hang ethereally in her home, larger than life, just as he was before his sudden death.

The connection between art and religion has always been present for Grace, no more so than in the aftermath of Elliott’s death in 2022, which came not long after the sudden death of her niece in 2021.

Grace painted one of Elliott’s portraits directly on the wall at the entrance to the house, and painted the other for Elliott’s farewell service.

“I was in such a low place, I know I painted that with angels,” she says.

‘He was my best friend. He was a creative genius.

“He was larger than life. (The death of a child) is the most unbelievably horrible thing you can think of and you think, ‘That will never happen to me’.”

The loss of Elliott left a hole in the lives of Grace, his family and those who loved him, and Grace says without her religion she wouldn’t be here today.

“It took me a while to come back and I’m definitely not the same person I was,” she says.

“It has completely changed a lot of what I do.”

Art is a common thread in Grace’s life. She remembers discovering she could draw at the age of nine, but didn’t think much about it at the time.

“Because it was so easy, I didn’t think much about it and I thought anyone could do it,” she says.

Grace transferred her skills to college, where she studied a master’s degree in fine arts, majoring in portraiture.

“When I got out of college, I had picked up this subconscious idea that art wasn’t meant to be beautiful anymore, and that it’s been a very long journey to actually get to where I want to unapologetically create works of beauty,” she says. say.

After working as an art teacher for many years, Grace decided she wanted to focus on bringing her own style and visions to life.

Grace’s colorful contemporary realist paintings explore the intersection of the visible and invisible worlds and offer glimpses of the supernatural.

Her previous work focused on animal and bird portraits, linking these to the personality traits that humans possess, and exploring metaphors for the human condition.

Grace says her pieces used to focus on the prophetic and spiritual side of life, but over time she has moved more towards portraiture.

“I start without many intentions and they evolve,” she says of her artwork.

“I have some underlying principles and one of them is that I want to create beauty. I truly believe that art should be beautiful and something you want to look at.

“Beauty is something you really look at. I want to bring my work where (people) will still want to look at it in five or ten years and beyond.

“The flowers and lines and butterflies and cracks represent the good, the bad and the ugly that can happen.”

Grace has published a book, Painting with God, which explores the connection between religion and artistry and how, once she married the two, this opened up a whole new world to her.

“Growing up in Australia, it was as if art was an alien thing that had to do with church. The two were so completely separated. I had never heard of art in church,” she says.

“I felt God telling me to paint in church every week for a whole year, paint live. Initially I was very hesitant because that is a big undertaking.

“I have continued sailing and many fantastic things have come from it.”

Grace has painted live at hundreds of church conferences and gatherings in Africa, New Zealand, the US, England, Fiji and Singapore, for as many as 10,000 people.

She has also competed for the Archibald Prize many times for her work and is organizing in-person workshops and online courses to share her skills and experiences, including on an upcoming trip to Singapore.

Grace organized an exhibition entitled Still Standing at Sequel Gallery earlier this year and won the Best in Show award at the Warrnambool Easter Art Exhibition for her piece entitled The miracle of it allunder the theme Miracles, Mysteries and Wonders of Creation.

During a recent drawing class, Grace says she reconnected with her nine-year-old self and her first love of drawing, and the pure joy of the art form.

Getting lost in her paintings and flowing with her creativity is what Grace enjoys most about being an artist.

“The great aspiration of every artist is to create an emotional connection or response in whatever they create. I think that’s the starting point of creativity. It’s good for your soul, but you also want to connect with whoever is going to watch it,” she says.

“My highest point in life is when I am worshiping and painting.

“When you’re painting and it all clicks, that’s great.”

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