Image by cliff1066™ via Flickr

‘When I moved to New York,’ Cecily Brown says, ‘I was waiting tables, painting in the daytime and working at night, and I felt it was possible to find a balance and just about get by. I was 25 at the time. I thought, “Well, you just do it however you can.” I had no clue that it would go as well as it has.’

Now she is represented by the prestigious Gagosian Gallery, has works in Tate Modern and the Guggenheim, and is one of the most collected painters in the world. Each of her paintings sell for around £70,000, that is over $100,000.00USD, and there is always a waiting list of buyers, according to this Guardian article.

Image: Hoodlum, 2000-2001 Oil on linen by Cecily Brown, British, born London, 1969. School: British Contemporary

You will also find several images of her paintings, in her original painterly style, in the  Phaidon book Vitamin P .

In an interview Cecily Brown said: “The boundaries of painting excite me. You’ve got the same old materials – just oils and a canvas – and you’re trying to do something that’s been done for centuries. And yet, within those limits, you have to make something new or exciting for yourself as well as other people.”