Meet Bridget Walsh | Visual Artist and Painter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bridget Walsh and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bridget, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
If you love what you do, you never stop working. You could be enjoying a dinner out and have an idea emerge in your head that never has before, or you could be decompressing in a yoga class and make a connection that will further advance your career that you didnt expect. It makes it really hard to create a work/life balance when your work is so much of who you are.

I struggle the most with having a healthy routine around my work. Either I am dedicating every second to it, or I spend no time thinking about it or working on it. In my opinion, you can always be doing more. It’s really important, on those days where you feel no motivation, to force yourself to be involved to any degree. For me, that means opting to watch something on my off time that will inspire my artistic endeavors for the following day, making even a simple checklist to complete, or setting aside 30 minutes for brainstorming. If you need to decompress, just be mindful about it!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My artwork is best described by being in a dream-like state. Most of my happiest memories that I can always go back to mentally are the worlds that I create in my head. Since I was young, I have always been a daydreamer. My mind creates memories that are colorful, vibrant, indistinct, and meditative. I really enjoy painting and creating scenes and visions that are less of what you actually see, and more of how you remember it to be.

I am most excited about my recent artistic process, which has involved more woodworking. I really enjoy carving wood panels into abstract and creative shapes as opposed to using a rectangular canvas. As an artist, I find so much more raw and realness in creating every aspect of your artwork, starting with the canvas. Unfortunately, stretching canvases is never something that I really enjoyed, and I always felt a complicated relationship with putting my visions into a box. When I think about an image in my head, it follows the shape of what I see, and not a square. When I started creating my own shapes out of wood, everything changed for me, and it is something I really look forward to continuing in the future.

It seems very easy that I got to where I am today, but in that same breath not easy at all. Consistency is the recipe for me. I have been professionally working on my artwork since 2020, and it has been complicated as I have aged and graduated college. Any artists dream is to be a full time artist, and it is just not feasible when you are starting out, or for most people, ever. I struggle with always expecting that the next stage of my art career will mean that I am able to put in less work and can get comfortable, but as an entrepreneur, I always want more!

Along the way, I have learned that while focusing on your artwork and passion is important whole-heartedly, you need to find ways to incorporate it into all aspects of your other careers and livelihood in order to feel like it counts. That way, you are always looking forward to the day ahead.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Theres so much you can do in one week. But, here’s four of my favorite activities to do with people that are visiting:

One of my favorite places to take my friends is LAAMS NYC in the Lower East Side. It is the best representation of the creative culture: people getting together to display their talents, have fun, and keep innovating. There are three floors inside the space: the first filled with their eclectic artwork the fills the walls from local artists, creative streetwear clothing, and collaborations with other brands through fashion. The second floor has every kind of music that you can think of on vinyl, and the third floor is a full beauty bar with cosmetics. They always have the best music playing (Cudi, DOOM, etc) the most welcoming crew, and the coolest atmosphere.

Another stop I would have to make goes in this exact order: 7th street burger to go (you gotta get the loaded fries too!) and take it over to the nearest Craft and Carry Taphouse, and get the root beer on tap to wash it down. They have great outdoor seating too. The staff is super cool, and they always have decorations out for any holiday! Then, hit the 8:30 Comedy Club Special (my local one is the Midtown location in Gramercy). Perfect New York weekday evening.

Also, a favorite morning of mine would be in SoHo. I go to Sui Hot Yoga first thing with my friends to start the morning off right, and the amenities will leave you feeling so fresh and energized. Then, I love to go to Sadelles and get the bagel tower with smoked salmon and the white fish salad. So light, refreshing, and savory! They also have great Aperol Spritz’s that can set you on the right note for a day of fun!

I love taking my friends on the L to Bedford Avenue and going to McCarren park with some bagels. L Train vintage and Urban Jungle are some of my favorite thrifting spots heading towards Bushwick! Then, before heading back to Manhattan, for my friends from out of town, I love to go to Brooklyn Charm and take them to make their own necklaces and charm bracelets. Maybe for dinner, I’ll take them to Maera in midtown manhattan for some life changing pasta to finish the day.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
A shoutout that I would have to give first and foremost is to the creatives that I am most inspired by, George Condo and KAWS. My dream is to design album covers for musicians, and their creative careers represent who I want to be. Simply creating for the sake of developing a visual diary for yourself is never time wasted, and if it is your passion, others will notice!

Some of the connections that I have made in the last year have been incredibly important to me. Other local artists to the New York area: Maria Sardi @foxypainter, Joe Caito @manintheb0x___, and my best friends Bella Ferragamo (dancer) and Ronit Feldman (interior designer and fashion designer). Each of them are so attentive and supportive to my artistic journey through social media and have such amazing expressive styles. While our artistic visions are different through many mediums and stories, our overlapping themes of perception and inspiration are incredible to view. Having communities of like-minded storytellers that want to leave the world just a little bit more colorful makes your life so much more meaningful.

Website: https://www.bridgetawalsh.com/

Instagram: https://Bridgetwalsh.art

Image Credits
@filmpapi on instagram