Abstract Pastels - Bret Bailey

OM Gallery - 917-923-3251

Artist's Statement

Press

During an awkward and challenging childhood and adolesence Bret found peace in art classes. In junior high he and his family moved to nearby Bernardsville, and it was Mr. Wilson’s quirky, unpretentious earthyness that made Bret feel at ease in his art class. Later, after a move to Morristown, it was Mr. Butler’s open, accepting, playful reverence for his art classes that drew Bret’s attention. Other classes did little for him in that volatile ninth year of school, and if his seat in French, History, or Earth Sciences was empty, more often than not he could be found sitting in art class. Its environment of light and openness, and memories of music playing in the background were irresistible. Mr. Butler loved teaching so much that he had taught for seventeen years without missing a single day. Bret enjoys recalling that this great artistic soul lived across the street from “All Souls Hospital,” where he came into this world.

Years later, in college, overlooking the John F. Kennedy Library and Boston’s picturesque Harbor, Bret was first exposed to abstract art. An Art Professor, (Mr. Thurman), impressed him by having work in Boston’s Museum of Fine Art’s contemporary art collection. Horizontal bars of color - purple, orange and red, as he recalls, did little for him asthetically, but intrigued him as they furthered his understanding of art’s personal and subjective natures. An assignment using cameras rekindled a childhood interest as he learned the language of Art. Color, texture, lines, hues, contrasts. Sitting in Boston’s historic Copley Square he remembers writing a paper for the art class, comparing and contrasting styles and elements of the three prominent buildings in the Square - Sanford White’s Boston Public Library, the Trinity Church, and the modern John Hancock Building. Photography and the occasional sketch were his primary artistic outlets during his remaining years in college.

After graduation, Bret chanced into acting, and quickly recognized the sense of comfort and belonging that he enjoyed in art classes. In spite of this, he went on and spent some time with a Boston ad agency. There he worked on the account service side of the business, but felt a great affinity for the creative side. It was like a great playground, filled with some major talents.

While he worked on, and only dreamed of a creative life, time wittled away at his family tree, claiming his three remaining Grandparents, all within a brief six months. The added deaths of two Great Aunts within the next six months was a further blow. “Carpe Diem,” “Seize the Day,” cried out from within with each successive loss. When his Aunt Emma died (she was like a Grandmother) the other voice inside of me that had persisted throughout the last years, became clearer and clearer. “Act.” “Act.” “Act,” he heard within. Despite his rationalization that it doesn’t make sense, and his worry about being able to pay bills, he finally responded to the steady whispers. By the time of Emma’s death, his Grandma Bailey, Grandpa Bailey and Grandma Wakefield had all moved on. Emma’s sister, his Great Aunt Janette was also killed in a car crash just days after her sister was buried.

The lesson “Life is short,” was pounded into him by the losses, and he felt time’s passing as never before. He wanted something more of his life and was determined to listen to his call to “Act.”

"Come to the edge," He said. They said, "We are afraid." "Come to the edge," He said. They came. He pushed them... and they flew.

Guillaume Apollinaire

That was used as a part of a Tisch commencement address and later used in a pitch for a new account at the advertising agency. Now, it would serve to inspire Bret to go to new places.

For the next ten years he studied acting with inspired teachers Bronia Wheeler, Jeremy Geidt, Peter Kelley, Jennie Buckman, and Tim Phillips - all seeming to collectively impart the lessons of “letting go,” “openning up,”and always striving to be “in the moment.” He admits that he has a long way to go, but is always hopefull.

After earning his Screen Actors’ Guild and Actors’ Equity memberships Bret moved to New York City where he continued to study, audition and perform. Out of his newfound poverty as an actor, came his discovery of pastels. It was 1998 and he bought a starter set of fifteen half pastels and a pad of paper for about twenty dollars. That year the Christmas gifts he gave were in the form of abstract “portraits”of family members in vivid pastel colors. They were well received and Bret was encouraged. He felt an ease and freedom in this new abstract world. The affordability and simplicity of the medium was an added attraction. “The intimacy and immediacy of working with my fingers - feeling the pastels touch the paper, brushing, sweeping, pushing, pulling, twisting, pinching, dabbing appealed to me on so many levels. I felt like a kid fingerpainting, yet there was now room for more delicate work and effects - I loved it immediately. It‘s also great practice in listening to my heart” he recalls.

Still acting, Bret considered substitute teaching in the New York City Public School system and chanced into his neighborhood’s P.S. 87. It was suggested that he could gain the signatures needed for certification as a substitute by volunteering as an arts instructor in Angela Tripi-Weiss’ remarkable Arts in Action program.

The City’s School Board had left P.S. 87 without an arts program, and concerned, dedicated parents and community members pooled their own monies to fund Arts in Action, a program created by Artist/Teacher Angela. Every other week Angela would meet with parents and volunteers and teach them the current art lesson which would then in turn be passed on to the students. Basics of color, form, lines, shading, negative space and perspective were passed along to the students. Bret loved encouraging his fourth and fifth grade artists for the two years he learned from Angela. “So much talent in those incredible kids. It’s a great program for them, and she is so amazingly passionate about it. I was so inspired by Angela, and the kids,” said Bret.

Time passed, and Bret found himself rehearsing the Bernard Slade romantic comedy, “Same Time, Next Year,” in his tiny Manhattan apartment. His leading lady, Stephany Hitchcock, saw his walls covered with pastels and asked who did them. Bret awkwardly replied that he had. Stephany loved the colors and encouraged him to show his work - to get it out there. “This is what’s going to make you famous,” she said responding to a flash she got as she looked over the room again.

“Famous is nice,” Bret says, “but listening to my heart, being in a flow, and loving my life are my priorities. Getting paid to work towards these goals is another.” “It‘s really amazing,” Bret adds, “The pastels have already helped me to realize so much of those dreams - I’m so incredibly grateful.”

Bret and Stephany have been living together since the curtain came down on their play. She’s a successful jewelry designer now, and both are planning a long, full life together, immersed in love and colors, and always encouraging and inspiring each other.