MEet your artist

Colleen Brazell

I went to University of California at Davis. I majored in art and absolutely loved it, I had the time of my life. My favorite painter (and the reason I went into art originally) is Wayne Thiebaud. He's famous for San Francisco landscapes and pastries, he does phenomenal work with color. I signed up for as many of his courses as I could. The one thing that attracted me to art in general was the use of color and shading, which he specializes in, so I thought who better to learn from?

As an artist, I never really felt like I was good enough, so I struggled with it for a long time when I was younger. I got married, and raised two kids, and had "traditional" jobs. My creative art came out here and there. I played around with stained glass, I did painted clothes in the 80s, and sold some of it, things like that, but I still hadn't found MY art. 

I hit the re-do button in my 50s after 8 years in the Veterinary industry. I decided to go back to art, if only for side passion. I started with the first canvas of my Gibby. Then my friend Mary commissioned me for the side of her house. She wanted me to paint a mermaid mural. I told her I couldn't do it but she pushed me to just get paint on the wall. We were both really happy with the way it came out. I posted it on Facebook, and one of my other friends wanted the mermaid on canvas. I got nervous, thinking I couldn't repeat it, so I originally said no. Thankfully, she wouldn't take that for an answer, so I painted her a mermaid.

Next just-for-fun project , I painted my daughter Hannah's cat on canvas. He loves the portrait of himself so much that he always sits in front of it on the couch. Then I did my daughter Sarah's cat. From there, I kept posting my pet canvases on Facebook, and friends and family kept reaching out to get me to paint their pet.

I felt like it was a fluke, like I kept getting lucky, like next time it might not be as good. I had to work up to having confidence in my art. Now I can say that I love that I have this gift, and I love sharing it with people. I'm at the runway, ready to take off. My friend Michaela said I should get branded, so she's set me up with this website, Etsy shop and business Instagram. It's given me a new energy, to have so many people supporting me making this into a reality.

My next big thing is to learn how to paint landscapes. I'm excited to try lighthouses. I spend most of the year in Cape Coral, Florida, but I also spend a few months in Maine, so painting lobsters is very fun + special to me. I've got a good 30 years left, I want to push the limits of my creativity. Thank you for coming to my page and learning about my journey!