Today we’d like to introduce you to Brantly Sheffield.
Brantly, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I suppose I got my start by deciding to go to art school at the Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City, MO. I didn’t have anything else really working for me other than art stuff, and a couple of recruiters came to visit my high school art class. I was suspicious of the idea of art school, but after a couple of conversations with an admissions counselor, I was all in on the idea of art school. So, I set my sights on the Kansas City Art Institute. I got into KCAI and moved to KCMO in August of 2010 for my first year at art school. While I was at KCAI, I learned various skills; I was given the time and space to explore different materials along with various processes. The instructors acted as guides we could access for multiple perspectives on a problem that may or may not be helpful. I ended my time at KCAI with a strong sense of community that I still have pretty strong ties too. Kansas City became home. Which is why it was very difficult to leave for graduate school, but I did. In 2015 I moved to Boston, MA, to attend Boston University. While in the MFA program at BU, I was again granted time and space to make my work, pose questions, and push my practice into sometimes uncomfortable places. Graduate school was a time, but it led to where I am now. After graduate school, I was kinda freaking out about what was next. I was thinking of moving back to Kansas City, or maybe New York, when was I approached by an instructor from the MFA program about teaching. The catch was I had to move to Dallas, TX. I grew up in a suburb of Oklahoma City, so I am not entirely unfamiliar with the area. I got a couple of adjunct teaching positions at a few colleges in the DFW and moved down here in 2017. I’ve been in Dallas for going on seven years now. I keep getting opportunities around here, and I have found a great community of artists and friends that I cherish very much. I couldn’t have asked for a better place to end up and start to establish some roots.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The main challenge has been maintaining a consistent studio practice while juggling all that life requires of us. That challenge never goes away. Things like school and studying was struggle while I was going through it, but the results of that labor have really paid off. I mean a lot of art history, artist’s names, work titles, dates, and miscellaneous information is forever etched into my brain. I think my challenges have taught me a lot about myself as an artist and defined the type of person.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am an artist based in Dallas, TX. I am a representational artist that depicts aspects of my life and observations. My work has an “if you know, you know” quality, they are known people, places, and objects within communities I occupy. I use paint to create an access point either through the familiarity of the composition or the moment depicted or it’s through how it’s painted. The way I paint starts with drawing. Drawing is the backbone of my studio practice. I like the nature of contour line drawing from life and the natural exaggerations of proportion that occur within that process. I use color forms and patterns to fill in the space to create a representation of my subject. I’m really excited about my current body of work. I have roughly 9 months to paint and make stuff for my next solo show.
Any big plans?
Like I said, I am really excited about my current body of work. I have about 9 months left to paint to be ready for my next solo show at Ro2 Art in Dallas next year. That’s honestly all I’m really focused on right now.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.brantlysheffield.com/
- Instagram: @brantly_sheffield
Image Credits
Ben Schultz
Teresa Rafidi
