Brandi Read
Brandi was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1976. As a small child, she looked at her mother’s colored page with envy with how well she managed to keep her crayon marks within the lines. “All it takes is practice,” she learned, and has been honing her skills ever since. At the age of twelve she lived with her grandparents and twin sister in Bradenton, Florida. Her grandmother took her to weekly art lessons and Brandi soon received her first commission. A neighbor paid twenty dollars for a painting of five California Raisins, complete with names of the family members assigned above each character. The portrait, despite referencing pop culture icons of 1988, unofficially remains the worst family portrait painted by anyone. Brandi’s experience and education in art has expanded far beyond the lessons at the local art supply shop; she returned to Kalamazoo, Michigan, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Western Michigan University School of Art. In addition to showing in various juried exhibitions and group shows, she has won many awards and scholarships—in particular, a travel grant which enabled her to research a sculpture at the Louvre for her Readdressing Victory series. Brandi currently shows her paintings in cities on both coasts, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Dallas, and Atlanta.
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