Growing up in Connecticut, Britt Bair says she first discovered her love of art in kindergarten. On a day where all of her classmates were enjoying fingerpainting, she was initially reluctant to immerse her hands in the messy paint. However, once she was coaxed to try it, she loved the feeling of smearing it about, and has continued to paint ever since, even using her fingers on occasion.
Bair, who has painted professionally for about 25 years, is the April solo artist at the Center for Spiritual Care in a show called “Fresh Perspective,” which features 20 of her recent paintings and acrylic/collages.
After studying art at the University of California, Riverside, Bair pursued her love of the craft while working for a graphics design firm, creating catalogs for a few major Manhattan galleries. As is often the case, Blair’s artistic endeavors were put on hold for the noble art of marriage and motherhood.
Years later, as her schedule freed up, she began painting regularly again. Finding that she needed a studio, she moved in with a group called Loft Artists. The sale of the building they were in morphed into a new venture – taking a new raw space and turning it into artists’ studios.
“My next-door neighbor was a Realtor with a dream and the raw building,” she recalls of the Norwalk, Conn., site.
Appreciating their serendipitous connection, her Realtor friend put Bair in charge of finding the artists and managing the facility. With the help of a fellow artist, they turned the building into 15 studios and a gallery, naming it Wilson Avenue Loft Artists.
“It was wonderful, all this camaraderie in one place. It worked beautifully,” she says.
Bair became an accomplished artist, selling her work in galleries, and exhibiting in museums throughout the Northeast and beyond.
Ten years later, Bair was ready for a change, and in 2018, she and her husband discovered Vero Beach. As with many newcomers to Vero, she was delighted with the cultural climate and offerings here, including our excellent museum.
Having had her fill of the grays, browns and tan colors of the Northeast winters, Bair says she was delighted by Florida’s vibrant colors.
“I need bright blue, bright turquoise and bright orange. I need those pops of color. [But] I simply was not prepared for the lushness Vero’s mix of tropical and sub-tropical climates produce. The flowers are amazing. Even the birds. They can be so dramatic, but it’s the color of the feathers that intrigues me.”
Representational in style, Bair’s oil paintings were as well accepted in this new clime as they had been in the Northeast, but change was in the air.
Bair took two classes led by Vickie Marsango at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, and says they changed her life.
She continues to take classes from Marsango, who introduced her to abstract painting and has guided her metamorphosis. She quickly found her own unique style, although it continues to evolve, and appreciates the range of colors and the freedom to create her new works.
“The museum is a great place to go [for art classes]. I just fell right into the perfect spot,” says Bair.
When viewing her work, it is hard to believe that she has only been painting abstracts for about three years. Her paintings have a wide range of bright colors and composition and are markedly different from her representational paintings.
“I’d always admired abstract work, but never really knew how to approach it. Because there is a process, and I didn’t know the first thing about it,” says Bair.
“I ran a plein air group in Connecticut; we painted outside. I painted cows for almost 15 years. I went through these stages of representational work until I came to Florida. And then all of a sudden it changed.”
She now works primarily on large canvases, which can be as big as 52 inches by 65 inches, using acrylic and mixed media, including inks, markers, gel sticks, charcoal, even oil sticks.
Her acrylic/collages are on a smaller scale, usually 11 inches by 14 inches or a 12-inch square.
Bair feels that her college schooling and background in representational painting gives her abstract works a definitive and recognizable grounding in composition, contrast, line work, lights and darks, and color composition.
Commenting that each painting has 15 to 30 layers of paint, she adds, “I only stop when I can’t make another mark on the piece.”
Bair does most of her artwork in big spurts, and relishes going on retreats with up to 10 other artists to the Atlantic Center for the Arts, in New Smyrna, Fla.
Each artist is given a studio and a dorm-like room, and they paint daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Having an on-site chef to cook their meals allows the artists to concentrate fully on the canvases before them.
She says this is where the bulk of her work is done. She then tweaks the paintings back home, painting three to five hours, four days a week.
“This schedule allows me to enjoy the wonderful life Vero Beach has to offer,” says Bair.
Calling herself “an intuitive painter,” she starts each work by putting marks and color on the canvas and then sees what happens.
“Something jumps out at me, like the color or shapes. I have a need to put it on canvas,” she explains, adding that while most of her colors are happy, light and fun, she occasionally uses darker colors if her mood is darker.
“One of the hardest things is to name an abstract painting,” Bair says, noting that the name is often inspired by the colors, or how she feels about something in the painting.
Calling it a gift to have the time to paint, Bair admits that she sometimes needs to put on a timer, as she can become so absorbed in her work that she can lose track of time.
“I get so jazzed by color. I love color,” says Bair, who has been known to work well into the dinner hour.
“I have so much fun. If you don’t have fun, then why are you doing it? The pleasing composition and bright colors make me feel happy,” says Bair.
She adds that it pleases her to create artwork with a cheerful vibe that will give happiness to people in their homes.
The exhibition at the Center for Spiritual Care opens April 1 with a reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. that is open to the public. Afterward, it can be viewed by appointment throughout April by calling 772-567-1233.
Photos by Kaila Jones
