Brigitte West grew up in both Portland, Maine and rural New Brunswick, Canada. Her free hours were spent ambling amongst ocean tidepools and backyard woods, visiting local farms and wildlife preserves, and admiring the historic architecture. Many more hours were spent with her nose in a book or sketchpad. Her father (an artist & a stay-at-home-dad) gave her some of her first drawing tips, while her mother, a teacher, instilled a life-long love of libraries and the belief that one is never too old for picture books. This upbringing inspired both a strong appetite for detailed observation and a curiosity about how modern people interact with the earth. She eventually graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a BA in Sculpture.
West's visual art is often interdisciplinary, in that it exploits a myriad of techniques, materials, and inspirations. In her illustration work, she uses a mixture of traditional techniques and mediums (such as gouache, watercolours, brush & ink, etc.) as well as collage, and some digital tweaks. Her work is unified by an emphasis on detail, pattern, and representations of human diversity with a touch of whimsy. She currently resides on the coast of southern Maine and is trying to keep a nature journal. You can follow her on Instagram, @brigitte.west, to see her latest visual escapades.