Meet Sarah Mills-Bailey | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sarah Mills-Bailey and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarah, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I’m a native New Orleanian. That says it all! Tourists tend to associate New Orleans with hedonism, but the true unfettered experience there is creativity. From early childhood I was soaking in the street performances and art installed on the Jackson Square iron fence in the French Quarter, while eating beignets and feeding pigeons. My initial lofty goals in life were to be a ballerina and to play the violin, inspired by the hats laid on the sidewalk for collecting tips. The unexpected was everywhere, from tutu man running in the yearly marathon to Ruthie the Duck Lady meandering through the Quarter with her duck following behind, and of course Mardi Gras with its costumes and dancing in the streets!

Like a circadian rhythm, the days, seasons and celebrations dictated the food and gave life its structure: red beans on Monday, fried chicken on Wednesday, seafood on Friday, extended family gathering on Sunday over midday Sunday dinner, crawfish in season, king cake but only beginning with Epiphany and ending with Lent. Everything happened around the framework of food.

Starting out in life in New Orleans is like a fairy godmother sprinkling a blessing of gusto over you in the cradle.

My supportive upbringing had the effect of developing a mindset of eagerness to pursue my interests as I discovered them, not to meet expectations but to be myself. My family was for the most part stoic and introspective, introverts all, with the intelligence and perhaps impatience that led them as individuals to forge ahead. My grandmother was a medical technologist until her younger brother went to medical school, so she did, too! Why not? She worked as a pediatrician in the city’s public health department at well baby clinics in housing projects, tough terrain, walked with skilled professionalism and a steady, quietly loving heart.

My mother was a brave participant in the social justice issues of the ‘60s, marching to protest the assassination of Martin Luther King and as a student at LSU refusing to follow the women’s dress code of only dresses and skirts on campus. She earned so many infractions for wearing jeans to class that she had to move out of the dorm which at that time meant she could only carry a part time class schedule.

With that lineage I was bred to take the fork in the road as it appeared, moving from my career as a research scientist to my role as a mother of a chronically ill child recording every medical event and advocating for targeted and innovative care. Artistic expression came bubbling up with no resistance and was put to use engaging my daughter in living life vibrantly, at the same time freeing my self expression.
I am who I am today because of the twists and turns of my path and the deep joy and courage of my upbringing in the city of my childhood.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The path to where I am today as an artist was both easy and incredibly difficult. The easy part was the creative impulse, the tapping into a lifetime of emotion stepping up to the forefront of life. My abstract painting style gives free rein to personal expression covering every aspect of inner experience. My impressionism painting style allows a deep encounter with and interpretation of the physical world. The paint flows and layers as if on its own. Acting on the courage of my upbringing and the inner strength developed over years of adversity, I participate in the creation on the canvas, whether joyous or wrenching, without inhibition or stifling negativity. It just is.

The incredibly difficult part is painting through the limitations of physical illness. The joint pain and exhaustion of rheumatoid arthritis requires using my nondominant hand as needed and pacing myself in whatever alternating pattern of physical exertion and physical exhaustion is possible on any given day.

I move through all aspects of my life, the professional artist, the loving and supportive wife and mother, a member of community, with the love and support in turn of my family and friends. I am grateful to be here, painting, living fully, feeling blessed and in turn blessing through my work as an artist.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
As a New Orleans native who grew up with live, outdoor music Red Rocks is not to be missed. There is truly no other place that compares!!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I can shout the answer to this question from the rooftops: my family!

Pivoting into a totally new field of endeavor as an adult in the midst of the child rearing years of life entails bringing everyone along on the ride. And there was no family meeting to vote on the decision. In that mystical way of even life’s hardships turning into blessings, it was my older daughter’s health challenges that led to the development of my work as an artist, to engage and encourage her in a creative response to difficulties. The two of us started with craft activities, revitalizing thrift shop finds, working with fabric, stencils and paint. We were transforming everything in the house with our own brand of interior design. There was no limit to what we would try to enliven the space. This led to a home based business of children’s clothing and gifts, but more significantly it fostered the artist perspective on life, which is ultimately that everything is the medium for creative expression.

By the time my younger daughter made her arrival, I was a regular at the art supply store and one day bought a canvas, inspired by an idea to decorate the nursery. And so in my case it was my love of others, these girls of mine, that led to my development and success as an artist.

In turn, it was my family’s encouragement, support and participation along the way that made this possible.

Website: www.sarahmillsbailey.com

Instagram: smbaileyart

Facebook: Art of Sarah Mills Bailey