Bailey Bedford ’11 spreads warmth and light through art at the Magnolia Silos
“Wholeheartedly” is K-Stater Bailey Bedford’s favorite word.
It defines the way the 2011 grad expresses herself through her art, and how she approaches
life. It reflects the way she loves her family, and how she uses her painting to inspire
others going through seasons of both joy and grief.
Bedford owns Babs&Bird, an art and lifestyle brand dedicated to the beauty found in everyday moments.
“My whole mission of the brand is to spread joy through art wholeheartedly,” she said.
She recently had a chance to display some of her artwork at the Magnolia Shops at
the Silos in Waco, Texas, owned by some of her role models: Chip and Joanna Gaines
of Fixer Upper fame.
“It was the coolest weekend,” Bedford said. “We got there, and just walking the grounds
in the morning before people arrived, it brought tears to my eyes. All the hard work
put into this kind of came together.”
Bedford said that even though she had no idea she’d be able to find a career in art,
she always had a passion for creating. Growing up as one of five children, she learned
how to use her imagination to have fun and make new things out of resources she already
had. Then in high school, she took a painting course and found she loved it so much
that she wished she could spend all day in class.
She came to K-State to study apparel marketing, which she saw as the perfect blend
of business and her love for art. She added a minor in communications, further boosting
her skillset.
After graduation, she started working in event planning in Dallas, Texas. Her dream
was to end up working in the fashion world in New York City, where she'd done a summer
internship for a magazine. However, life took her in a different direction after meeting
her now husband, which moved them to Jacksonville, Florida. There she met a special
K-State connection that launched Bedford's career in a new direction.
Bedford met fellow Wildcat Patti Hughes ’86, founder of Natural Life, a clothing,
gifts and accessories brand.
"As I sat down to meet with Patti, I shared, 'I'm from Kansas originally,'" Bedford
recalls. "Patti said she was from Kansas and went to K-State. I said 'I did too. I
was in a sorority.' And Patti said 'Me too. I was a Pi Phi.' And I said 'Me too!'"
Hughes ended up offering her a job, and Bedford spent the next decade with Natural
Life, working in marketing, product development and sales.
Bedford’s own brand, Babs&Bird, started as a blog in 2015. Then in 2017, she lost
her son, William, at 26 weeks of pregnancy during the family’s move to North Carolina.
It was a deeply traumatic event that brought the family’s life to a halt.
After a few years of reflection, Bedford decided in 2022 to step back from her current
career to spend more time with her two young boys.
“I took a summer off, and during that summer, I had started picking up a paintbrush
again,” she said. “I got to do a lot more painting while taking care of the boys.”
That fall, she felt it was time to expand Babs&Bird with a logo and website. The name
of the brand comes from her own initials, “BAB,” and her nickname for her husband,
“Jaybird.”
One of her most treasured projects is a recent collection she made to commemorate
her son, William.
“I decided I wanted to commemorate William this year with a release of 12 months of
flowers. I started releasing it mid-June, when we held William, to mid-September,
when his due date was. It's probably more therapeutic for me than anything else, but
it's been the most wonderful growth of this business, in a way that just spreads his
magic through the world. This whole collection was dedicated to babies that bloom
in heaven.”
She also turned the pieces of art into prayer cards to guide others experiencing a
season of loss.
“It's such a quiet thing, because it is something that, even when it happens, you
are so private because it is so sad,” Bedford said. “We’ve received so many questions;
when people go through loss or they know of someone who has, [they ask] ‘What can
I give someone just to let them know I'm thinking about them; I want to be respectful
of their space,’ and I haven't known the perfect answer. And so I was like, well,
I could use these flowers somehow. And so I made prayer cards. February, for example,
is the iris, and there's three words that go with the iris: faith, wisdom and courage.
It sits on your countertop, it comes with a little stand. It's just really cool how
it's come together, through this process.”
A dream came true when Bedford was contacted by a representative from the Magnolia Shops at the Silos, owned by Chip and Joanna Gaines. Bedford was invited to paint and display her work
at the Silos in Waco, Texas, most recently on Oct. 3-4 during the K-State vs. Baylor
game.
“At Magnolia, people are coming for such a wholesome experience, the full day,” Bedford
said. “They're coming with their families. They're coming with friends. There were
a lot of girls trips. There was actually an Ironman going on that weekend too. And
so when they come [to Magnolia], they just come and spend time with you, so you get
to learn their stories. I think that might have been my favorite part, which is getting
to be a part of the atmosphere and just a small piece of what the Gaines family is
doing. Seeing the K-State fans, it's definitely one of the high points, because you
got to talk about K-State, Kansas, all those connections.”
And the weekend ended on the perfect note.
Bedford and her sister, who is also a K-State grad, were cleaning up the booth, preparing
for Bedford to fly out at 4 a.m. the next morning.
“We're making sure that we're just meticulously packed, because I'm going to be going
right onto a plane, so we're taking our time. And Joanna Gaines walks right up to
us, because I guess she had been on the property after hours for something. She said,
‘Are you the artist?’ And I said, ‘Oh, I am.’ I am shaking, very excited. And she
just said, ‘Oh, I'm so happy you're here. I've been wanting to support artists for
the longest time. I've had this vision. I'd love to hear how it's going, your experience.
I'd love to hear about your brand.’
“I feel like I've always looked up to her and all that she's building. And so to have
her be just as wonderful, if not even more so in person, was really cool. So very
complimentary. And then she said, ‘Will you take a picture with me? Can I hold your
art?’ And it was like, you're gonna make me cry.”
As for what’s next? Bedford said she’s excited to explore where her art might take
her.
“I think it's just going to organically evolve based on what makes sense with the
art at the time, and just take it step by step,” she said. “There's so many things
in my head, but I think giving grace to the time that I'm in at the moment of just
the busiest season of life, and doing whatever I can, however I can, also dedicating
time to our sweet little family. I want to be intentional.”
And her K-State connection will remain close to her heart.
“I think the family piece of K-State is what drew me to K-State to begin with, and
is what I still love the most about K-State,” she said. “I just have this pride of
K-State for all that it stands for, and all that it does.”
