We had the good fortune of connecting with Khalilah Birdsong and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Khalilah, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I picked up a paintbrush for the first time in August 2012. I was searching for an outlet to channel stress in a productive way. The first brush stroke I took vibrated throughout my entire being. Something clicked and made me feel at peace and in alignment. At the time, I was an executive in the Film and TV business. I had been working in the entertainment industry behind the scenes since I was sixteen years old, and all of my goals from that point forward were set on growing my career in the industry. That brushstroke changed everything for me. I began painting up to seven-foot canvases in my apartment in Atlanta as a hobby. After about a year, my work got noticed by a dear friend, who I also came to find out was an art collector. He bought a five-foot painting for his home and introduced me to the art scene in Atlanta. Gallerists and collectors took notice, and I began exhibiting in a well-known gallery in Atlanta and working as an apprentice to an established painter. Painting became a cathartic outlet and a nice side hustle. Five years after painting and exhibiting in Atlanta and Cincinnati, and working in my day job, I was presented with an alternative to working both gigs – to jump and leave my place of employment, where I had worked for ten years, and move to Maui, where I had just visited and felt a strong yearning of home there. It seemed crazy to me, a long shot and super risky, but my intuition prevailed over my anxious mind, and I jumped. In 2017, I moved to the island of Maui, Hawaii, where I lived for two years. There, I shed my fifteen-year corporate shell and painted everyday in the rainforest where I lived and had my studio. My intuition had been correct. All of the inner guidance I was given for making the leap came to fruition, and even more so, beyond what I could have imagined for my painting practice. While on Maui, I began exhibiting internationally. Now that I was open to following the path of just focusing on my artwork, opportunities came to me, and I followed. I have since exhibited in Japan and Italy multiple times, and have gallerists and dealers, as well as private and corporate collectors, around the world. I moved back to the Atlanta area a few months prior to the start of the pandemic, after my corporate layers had been shed and have continued my stride as a full-time artist. Without taking risks and leaping into the unknown, I never would have been able to discover this new-found career path.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I came into painting later in life, in my early thirties. I don’t have a formal art education, but I have worked with mentors, learned art history and have apprenticed under successful artists, which comprises my own unique art education. I’m grateful for the business skills that I gained in my previous profession working in the Film and TV industry in Los Angeles and Atlanta. That time allowed me hands on experience managing various aspects of the careers of talented actors and directors. I’ve been able to apply that business acumen to my own painting practice, which is about 80% business and about 20% painting and creating. I’ve learned that everyone’s art path is different and I’ve been focused on playing my own tune and marching to my own beat. This is my own distinct art journey.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many people who have played a major role in my art career. This shoutout, however, is dedicated to the very first person who championed my artwork, and still does to this day. Tony Conway, founder and CEO of Legendary Events, is a top event planner in Atlanta and in the USA. He is a friend who first noticed that my work should be viewed by a larger audience than just me, painting in my apartment. He bought a significant piece in 2013 and introduced my work to several Atlanta gallerists. Tony is, to this day, my biggest collector. I think he owns twelve or thirteen pieces that hang in his home and businesses in Atlanta, including the three twelve-foot paintings that hang in one of his private event venues, Flourish, in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. He has continued to be a wonderful and supportive friend for over ten years. Without his foresight in championing my work early on, my art path would have looked completely different.

Website: www.khalilahbirdsong.com

Instagram: @khalilahbirdsong

Facebook: @khalilahbirdsongartist

Other: Clubhouse: @kbirdsong

Image Credits
For the headshot – Amanda Greene

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