About the Artist

Bridget O’Brien is a contemporary watercolor artist based in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Her work explores embodiment, transformation, and intimacy through abstracted florals and organic forms. She holds a degree in Women’s Studies from the University of Delaware. Bridget’s current body of work explores the quiet power of vulnerability and presence through the lens of organic form.

Artist Statement

I create watercolor paintings that explore embodiment, vulnerability, and transformation through organic forms, often florals that blur into abstracted impressions of the body. My work stems from a deep personal need to reconnect with myself in the face of external pressures to shrink, polish, or perform.

Much of my artistic journey has grown out of my relationship with body image, autonomy, and being seen as a woman. In this work, I let softness be powerful. I’m drawn to the folds, textures, and rhythms of nature because they reflect what is human, cyclical, and tenderly alive. I often paint from emotional states I can’t name, letting them unfold through color, light, and form.

I hope viewers feel invited to pause, see, and perhaps recognize something unspoken in themselves, especially those navigating tenderness, resilience, or self-return.

My Process

I begin with white not as an end, but a beginning. Inspired by Agnes Martin’s reverent minimalism, I wash the paper in white to create a luminous ground. From there, I layer color slowly, letting light emerge from within. It’s not just about form, it’s about the presence, softness, and the quiet boldness of becoming visible.

Why Statement

At my core, I create to stay connected… to my body, my truth, and the parts of myself that have long been silenced or softened to make others comfortable.

Each time I paint, I negotiate the tension between visibility and vulnerability: the desire to be seen as I am and the fear that doing so will cost me safety, acceptance or love.

I know I’m not alone in that tension. My art is an offering to anyone who’s ever ached to be witnessed without needing to explain.

“The wound is the place where the light enters you.” - Rumi