Gloria “Glori B.” Braxton
Gloria Braxton, known widely as Glori B., was born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in a tight knit family who loved music, food and gatherings. Having no experience as a visual artist growing up, Glori B.’s interest in art was sparked in 2008 with her grandmother’s passing. Braxton studied art and watercolor for a year on her own to recreate her grandmother’s vibrancy, creating the piece Liz, after only a month into the process. The year following her mastery of the craft, she started a business taking commissions and sharing her gift with the world. Along with her paid clients, she has shown a commitment to donating artwork to families that have tragically lost loved ones. With this philanthropy she can dedicate twenty hours or more to a painting, just to bring healing to a family she may not know., colorful and expressive works spans eleven years of Glori B.’s artistic output. Glori B.’s unique use of color and movement set her work apart from traditional watercolor art. She creates intimate paintings that range from self-portrait, to scenes from her subject’s life, to portraits of loved ones.
In 2016, with the encouragement from a veteran artist she met while painting “en plein air” in Tompkin’s Park, Glori B. showcased four paintings in the 2016 juried Fulton Art Fair Exhibit in Fulton Park and won second place. The following year she won first place. Completely self-taught, her work shows a maturity and discipline reminiscent of formal training. Glori B.’s world view includes a vocabulary that describes the people around her in terms of color.
Glori B. has her work in several private collections. She has exhibited in New York City at RestorationART, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Building, Arts East NY Cultural Center, Joseph P. Adobo Federal Building, Bailey’s Café, TheArtHubNYC, St. Joseph’s College, and Fulton Art Fair. Recently she held her solo exhibit Vibrant Voices: A Retrospective of Gloria Braxton Watercolors at the South Oxford Space In Brooklyn, NY.