Karen Bailey

Themes of service and community inform my work. As a visual storyteller, my narratives trigger memories through depictions of familiar scenes: common place subjects engaged in every day rituals.
As a war artist I focused on themes of healing and service through my portrayal of Canadian military medical personnel caring for the wounded in a war zone, Afghanistan. These acts of service are echoed in my more domestic settings on the home front: the ecclesiastic milieu, beauty salons, charity shops and restaurants. The figures who inhabit these works promote the social bonds formed within these environments.
Through my art I strive to highlight the decency of ordinary people and to reflect the efforts and strengths of the citizens and non-human animals who enrich our community.

Karen Bailey paints people. Her Official Portrait of the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, 27th Governor General of Canada, was unveiled at Rideau Hall, Ottawa in September 2012.

Many of her works feature behind-the-scenes workers and under-recognized people. As an appointed military artist (CFAP 2006-07), she traveled to Afghanistan in June 2007 to document military medical personnel at the Role 3 Hospital in Kandahar. "Triage" is the resulting body of work, over two years in the making.

Past series have highlighted the working life of servers and hairstylists. “Blanche Dot Doris”, focused on older women who prepare food for church functions while her “Marjorie” paintings celebrated the life of friend and former neighbour, Marjorie Gray.

In "Raising Stanley/Life With Tulia" Karen documented raising and working with a guide dog for the blind as part of a multi media theatrical collaboration with blind storyteller Kim Kilpatrick and director Bronwyn Steinberg.This accessible show premiered at the Great Canadian Theatre Company, Ottawa, in summer 2018 and has been presented in Montreal, Toronto, Victoria, BC and Winnipeg, Manitoba.

A graduate of the Reigate School of Art & Design, England, her past work has included courtroom drawing for Global Television, book illustration for Appletree Press, U.K., heraldic art and calligraphy. Twice she has received the prestigious Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grants for drawing and painting.

Karen Bailey’s diverse career spans four decades. She first exhibited in 1981 when her detailed heraldic art appeared at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London as part of Heraldry Now 1975-1981. Most recently, her largest canvas to date, Blast Victims, was included in the War & Medicine exhibition at the Canadian War Museum.

Inspired by two sojourns on Fogo Island, Newfoundland, (2016 & 2018) Karen painted a series focusing on the people and landscape of this remote island.

In the Cundell Stables series she documented the working life of the Cundell family, stablehand and horses. A bilingual cataloque/book (The Last Stable in Lowertown - Cundell Stables, Ottawa) including paintings by Karen Bailey and a history of the Cundell family by writer Marc Aubin was launched at the exhibition in January 2022 at the Ottawa School of Art.

Most recently Karen painted portraits of the volunteers, staff, clients and supporters in her series "Portraits of The Ottawa Mission". This collection was exhibited at the Ottawa Art Gallery in 2022.

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022 Ottawa Art Gallery, "Portraits of the Ottawa Mission"
2022 Ottawa School of Art, "The Last Stable in Lowertown - Cundell Stables, Ottawa"
2020 Fogo Island, Newfoundland POSTPONED
2019 Artscourt, Ottawa, "Raising Stanley/Life With Tulia" Collaboration with Storyteller Kim Kilpatrick
2018 Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC), Ottawa "Raising Stanley/Life With Tulia" Collaboration with Storyteller Kim Kilpatrick
2015 RIA Salon, Ottawa, “Raising Stanley” (Pilot project) with Storyteller Kim Kilpatrick
2015 Nuit Blanche Ottawa/Gatineau, Guide Dogs Dance, Rectory Art House
2012 Rideau Hall, Official Portrait of the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean
2010 Rideau Hall, selected works from "Triage" (June)
2010 Dale Smith Gallery, "tea/leaves"
2010 Ottawa School of Art, "Triage"
2008 Dale Smith Gallery, Ottawa “Blanche, Dot, Doris”
2006 IPO Gallery, Ottawa “Marjorie”
2005 Ottawa Art Gallery, Rental & Sales Service, Ottawa “Are You Being Served?”
2001 Fulford Gallery, Ottawa
1989 Mount Street Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
1988 Artscourt, Ottawa
1987 City Hall, Ottawa

Selected Joint Exhibitions
2003 Here + Now Gallery, Toronto (with Laurie Zinkand-Selles) “New Directions”
2001 Visual Arts Centre Orleans (with Barbara Bailey) “Sisters-Painterly Relations”
1984 City Hall, Ottawa (with George Foster)

Selected Group Exhibitions
2020-21 Hindsight: 2020 Additions to the City of Ottawa Art Collection
2020 Enriched Bread Artists (EBA), Ottawa "Inhale Again"
2019 Light, 2104 Dundas St W, Toronto
2015 Saint Brigid’s Centre for the Arts, Ottawa “Figureworks 2015”
2014 University of Ottawa, Ottawa “Human Rights Art Exhibit”
2013 Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, "Peace - the Exhibition"
2012 The Military Museums, Calgary, AB, “A Brush with War - Military Art from Korea to Afghanistan”
2011 Canadian War Museum, Ottawa ,"War & Medicine"
2009 McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, ON “A Brush With War - Military Art from Korea to Afghanistan”
2009 DND Headquarters. Ottawa - Canadian Forces Artists Program 2006-07
2008 ARC Gallery, Chicago USA “Are We There Yet? 40 years of Feminism”
2007 Distill, Toronto “distill cup 07”
2007 Anglican Synod, Winnipeg, Manitoba “Sacred Expressions”
2005 Ottawa School of Art, “Portraits in Circumstance”
2001 Women’s Art Association, Toronto, Trapeze “Imaging the Self”
1991 Nancy Poole’s Studio, Toronto
1990 Soloman Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
1981 Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England “Heraldry Now 1975-1981”

Grants & Awards
2021 Ottawa Bilingue (Cundell Stables)
2021 Heritage Ottawa, Gordon Cullingham Publication Grant (Cundell Stables)
2021 City of Ottawa Heritage Project Funding (Cundell Stables)
2020 Ottawa Creation and Production Fund for Professional Artists
2020 Heritage Ottawa, Gordon Cullingham Research Grant (Cundell Stables)
2017 Canada Coucnil for the Arts
2017 Ontario Arts Council
2017 Ottawa Community Foundation
2015 Tontine Award (collaboration with Kim Kilpatrick)
2013 Honourary Diploma of Fine Arts, Ottawa School of Art
2010 Council for the Arts Ottawa - Finalist, Mid-Career Artist Award
2007 Ottawa School of Art Emerging New Talent Award
2006-07 Canadian Forces Artist Program (Military artist, Kandahar, Afghanistan)
1995 Ted Marshall Scholarship (Drawing & Painting)
1985 Elizabeth Greenshields Grant (Drawing & Painting)
1983 Elizabeth Greenshields Grant (Drawing & Painting)


Current Work Raising Stanley StoryTellers Nuit Blanche (2013) Official Portrait of Michaëlle Jean 27th Governor General of Canada (2012) tea/leaves (2010) Afghanistan (2007-09) (Canadian Forces Artist Program) Blanche Dot Doris (2008) Doris (2008-10) Marjorie (2006-07) Cut (2005-07) Assortment (2009-2016) guest artist Barbara Bailey Triage book Exhibitions & news studio Biography Contact		Self Portraits Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Past Series Are You Being Served? small 2005 Are You Being Served? 2004-05 New Directions Interiors Shopfronts Still Life Gouache Book Illustration Heraldry
	Karen Bailey with a detail from "After the Robbery" (self-portrait)
	Themes of service and community inform my work. As a visual storyteller, my narratives trigger memories through depictions of familiar scenes: common place subjects engaged in every day rituals. As a war artist I focused on themes of healing and service through my portrayal of Canadian military medical personnel caring for the wounded in a war zone, Afghanistan. These acts of service are echoed in my more domestic settings on the home front: the ecclesiastic milieu, beauty salons, charity shops and restaurants. The figures who inhabit these works promote the social bonds formed within these environments. Through my art I strive to highlight the decency of ordinary people and to reflect the efforts and strengths of the citizens and non-human animals who enrich our community. Karen Bailey paints people. Her Official Portrait of the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, 27th Governor General of Canada, was unveiled at Rideau Hall, Ottawa in September 2012. Many of her works feature behind-the-scenes workers and under-recognized people. As an appointed military artist (CFAP 2006-07), she traveled to Afghanistan in June 2007 to document military medical personnel at the Role 3 Hospital in Kandahar. "Triage" is the resulting body of work, over two years in the making. Past series have highlighted the working life of servers and hairstylists. “Blanche Dot Doris”, focused on older women who prepare food for church functions while her “Marjorie” paintings celebrated the life of friend and former neighbour, Marjorie Gray. In "Raising Stanley/Life With Tulia" Karen documented raising and working with a guide dog for the blind as part of a multi media theatrical collaboration with blind storyteller Kim Kilpatrick and director Bronwyn Steinberg.This accessible show premiered at the Great Canadian Theatre Company, Ottawa, in summer 2018 and has been presented in Montreal, Toronto, Victoria, BC and Winnipeg, Manitoba. A graduate of the Reigate School of Art & Design, England, her past work has included courtroom drawing for Global Television, book illustration for Appletree Press, U.K., heraldic art and calligraphy. Twice she has received the prestigious Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grants for drawing and painting. Karen Bailey’s diverse career spans four decades. She first exhibited in 1981 when her detailed heraldic art appeared at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London as part of Heraldry Now 1975-1981. Most recently, her largest canvas to date, Blast Victims, was included in the War & Medicine exhibition at the Canadian War Museum. Inspired by two sojourns on Fogo Island, Newfoundland, (2016 & 2018) Karen painted a series focusing on the people and landscape of this remote island. In the Cundell Stables series she documented the working life of the Cundell family, stablehand and horses. A bilingual cataloque/book (The Last Stable in Lowertown - Cundell Stables, Ottawa) including paintings by Karen Bailey and a history of the Cundell family by writer Marc Aubin was launched at the exhibition in January 2022 at the Ottawa School of Art. Most recently Karen painted portraits of the volunteers, staff, clients and supporters in her series "Portraits of The Ottawa Mission". This collection was exhibited at the Ottawa Art Gallery in 2022. Selected Solo Exhibitions 2022 Ottawa Art Gallery, "Portraits of the Ottawa Mission" 2022 Ottawa School of Art, "The Last Stable in Lowertown - Cundell Stables, Ottawa" 2020 Fogo Island, Newfoundland POSTPONED 2019 Artscourt, Ottawa, "Raising Stanley/Life With Tulia" Collaboration with Storyteller Kim Kilpatrick 2018 Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC), Ottawa "Raising Stanley/Life With Tulia" Collaboration with Storyteller Kim Kilpatrick 2015 RIA Salon, Ottawa, “Raising Stanley” (Pilot project) with Storyteller Kim Kilpatrick 2015 Nuit Blanche Ottawa/Gatineau, Guide Dogs Dance, Rectory Art House 2012 Rideau Hall, Official Portrait of the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean 2010 Rideau Hall, selected works from "Triage" (June) 2010 Dale Smith Gallery, "tea/leaves" 2010 Ottawa School of Art, "Triage" 2008 Dale Smith Gallery, Ottawa “Blanche, Dot, Doris” 2006 IPO Gallery, Ottawa “Marjorie” 2005 Ottawa Art Gallery, Rental & Sales Service, Ottawa “Are You Being Served?” 2001 Fulford Gallery, Ottawa 1989 Mount Street Gallery, Dublin, Ireland 1988 Artscourt, Ottawa 1987 City Hall, Ottawa Selected Joint Exhibitions 2003 Here + Now Gallery, Toronto (with Laurie Zinkand-Selles) “New Directions” 2001 Visual Arts Centre Orleans (with Barbara Bailey) “Sisters-Painterly Relations” 1984 City Hall, Ottawa (with George Foster) Selected Group Exhibitions 2020-21 Hindsight: 2020 Additions to the City of Ottawa Art Collection 2020 Enriched Bread Artists (EBA), Ottawa "Inhale Again" 2019 Light, 2104 Dundas St W, Toronto 2015 Saint Brigid’s Centre for the Arts, Ottawa “Figureworks 2015” 2014 University of Ottawa, Ottawa “Human Rights Art Exhibit” 2013 Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, "Peace - the Exhibition" 2012 The Military Museums, Calgary, AB, “A Brush with War - Military Art from Korea to Afghanistan” 2011 Canadian War Museum, Ottawa ,"War & Medicine" 2009 McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, ON “A Brush With War - Military Art from Korea to Afghanistan” 2009 DND Headquarters. Ottawa - Canadian Forces Artists Program 2006-07 2008 ARC Gallery, Chicago USA “Are We There Yet? 40 years of Feminism” 2007 Distill, Toronto “distill cup 07” 2007 Anglican Synod, Winnipeg, Manitoba “Sacred Expressions” 2005 Ottawa School of Art, “Portraits in Circumstance” 2001 Women’s Art Association, Toronto, Trapeze “Imaging the Self” 1991 Nancy Poole’s Studio, Toronto 1990 Soloman Gallery, Dublin, Ireland 1981 Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England “Heraldry Now 1975-1981” Grants & Awards 2021 Ottawa Bilingue (Cundell Stables) 2021 Heritage Ottawa, Gordon Cullingham Publication Grant (Cundell Stables) 2021 City of Ottawa Heritage Project Funding (Cundell Stables) 2020 Ottawa Creation and Production Fund for Professional Artists 2020 Heritage Ottawa, Gordon Cullingham Research Grant (Cundell Stables) 2017 Canada Coucnil for the Arts 2017 Ontario Arts Council 2017 Ottawa Community Foundation 2015 Tontine Award (collaboration with Kim Kilpatrick) 2013 Honourary Diploma of Fine Arts, Ottawa School of Art 2010 Council for the Arts Ottawa - Finalist, Mid-Career Artist Award 2007 Ottawa School of Art Emerging New Talent Award 2006-07 Canadian Forces Artist Program (Military artist, Kandahar, Afghanistan) 1995 Ted Marshall Scholarship (Drawing & Painting) 1985 Elizabeth Greenshields Grant (Drawing & Painting) 1983 Elizabeth Greenshields Grant (Drawing & Painting)