When art lovers around the world go looking online for something new to buy at the Affordable Art Fair in Sydney later this year, the image that will greet them first is a painting by Canberra artist Bridie O'Brien.
Bridie has been selected as the campaign artist for the fair which is held at the Carriageworks in Eveleigh from November 5 to 8, attracting around 90,000 visitors over the four-day event.
Her Moonlighting As A Vagabond was chosen as the hero image for the Sydney fair's worldwide advertising campaign.
"I'm still a little surprised and very chuffed about it," she said.
The Affordable Art Fair is a worldwide brand.
It hosts 19 events across 16 cities around the world including London, New York and Berlin, and attracts 280,000 art lovers each year, who collectively purchase around £50 million ($101 million) in art.
The fair's director in Australia Georgia Huestis said its "global design team were instantly drawn to the image of [Bridie's] painting when we put it forward".
"Moonlighting as a Vagabond isn't large in scale but it has incredible wall power, and we felt it captured the spirit and excitement for art that we want our visitors to enjoy," Georgia said.
Also a musician, Bridie toured nationally during her career with bands such as Mental As Anything, The Church and Icehouse and played lead guitar for Do-Re-Mi.
The 46-year-old started painting landscapes in 2020.
"In my 30s, I worked as an audio engineer at the Art Gallery of NSW, overseeing lectures that became a turning point," she said.
"Walking those gallery halls reignited a calling I could no longer ignore. Since 2020 I have devoted myself to painting the natural world in oil.
"Working with a palette knife and bold colour, I bring landscapes to life through a language of abstract realism and contemporary impressionism.
"My practice is grounded in travel and time outdoors, bushwalking, snow camping, and observing the rhythms of light and land."
Bridie says her work is recognisable but also abstract. She takes off on her motorbike, with sketchpad at the ready, to be inspired by new landscapes. Sometimes, it means travelling to other places in the world, such as Portugal, France and Italy.
"My code of ethics is that I only paint places I've visited," she said.
"I need to feel it."
Bridie said her younger self would never have imagined she could work full-time as an artist.
"I've now sold around 400 paintings, including 120 this year alone through four art fairs and private sales," she said.
"Just last Friday, I was thrilled to learn that all six of my works in the St Vincent's College Charity Art Exhibition in Potts Point had sold. The exhibition raised funds for Open Support, supporting women and children escaping domestic violence."
Her work has been recognised by art prizes and appeared in magazines. ARIA award-winning musician Jeff Lang used one of Bridie's paintings for his 2023 instrumental album, Interstate Pulse.
After 27 years in Sydney, Bridie moved to Canberra three years ago.
"Surrounded by mountains and bushland, I feel at home and at peace," she said.
In a way, the success of her paintings - and their size - prompted her move to Canberra.
She remembers being commissioned by a Sydney couple to paint Tasmania's Bay of Fires in a work that would measure 2.4 metres by 2.4 metres.
"I thought, 'I can't get that up the elevator of my tiny apartment in Marrickville'," she said.
She instead moved to Conder and converted her two-car garage into an art studio.
Thanks to social media, more than a third of her customers are Americans.
"Now the Australian market is starting to take notice," she said.
