Tucker Bailey’s sculptures and paintings are strongly influenced by her life experiences. She was born in northern Minnesota and spent her early years along the ruggedly beautiful shores of Lake Superior. It was there she developed a deep love of nature and animals. She also became an equestrian at an early age and horses continue to be a large part of her life at her home in the Peidmont area of North Carolina. .

“From the first time I saw bronze sculpture as a young girl, at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, I’ve been totally captivated by the reality of three dimensional sculptures. It became my goal to one day create bronze sculpture. Sculpture is a medium that changes with a changing point of view. The surface of bronze has a reflective quality and the angle of light dramatically changes perception. In my work, I try to bring more to my sculptures than just surface anatomy. I think of the work I do as a portrait of each animal. I try to bring out its personality – making the space at once internal and external.”

Tucker had her first bronze cast in 1989, and became so fascinated by the process that she took a job working at the foundry. For two years she studied and learned the art of casting a bronze from the mold-making to the application of the patina. “What a wonderful hands-on learning experience to have worked at a foundry. I continue to do my own molds and carefully hand-finish each wax before casting. I am also involved in the finishing touches of the metal, including the patina application.”

She has devoted her life to the study of animals and art, and has studied with sculptor John Paul Harris and painters such as Sally Strand, Heiner Hertling, Valerie Hinz, Guan Weixing, and for the last 6 years master painters David Leffel and Sherrie McGraw. Tucker also has an extensive collection of books on art and visits art museums and Brookgreen Sculpture Gardens as often as possible. She and her husband were granted the privilege of getting married (1996) at Brookgreen Gardens because she won the Anna Hyatt Huntington Bronze Medal from the Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club in NYC in 1993.  Tucker’s work is found in private and corporate collections across North America and abroad, including many bronzes at the North Carolina Zoological Park. She has been featured in a segment on NPR radio, called Voices and Viewpoints in 2006, and an article in The Winston-Salem Monthly Magazine (Tucker’s Bailiwick) in 2007. Her sculpture of a Percheron Draft Horse was included in an editorial in the Fine Art Connoisseur, October 2013 edition. Her work has been featured in the Polo Players Edition Magazine annual Sporting Art issue in 1999, 2000,2002,2004,2006.  Her sculpture of a fox, titled, Sly is included in the book, The Red Fox in Fine Art, published in 2013. . Tucker's work has won many awards at prestigious shows such as Society of Animal Artists Award of Excellence Medal in 2013 and 2007, and in 2013 the Evelyn and Peter Haller Memorial Award for Sculpture, her work was included in the Society Of Animal Artists Museum Tours (Art of the Animal) in 2000-2001, 2001-2002, 2007-2008, 2012-2013, 2013-2014; A special exhibit of the works from one of the SAA museum tour shows at National Geographic in Washington DC ; From the American Women Artists she won the 'Distinguished Achievement Award in Sculpture'  in 2017, the Silver Medal for Signature members in 2013, the Award of Recognition in 2011 and the Leonard Meiselman Award in 2010 and  work included in their museum shows in 2014 and 2012; Tucker has won awards at the American Professional League; Allied Artists of America; The Pen and Brush, Inc.; and The Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club with the Anna Hyatt Huntington Bronze Medal for Sculpture;  A painting toured with the Artists For Conservation in 2012. Eleven of her sculptures were included in the touring show - Art of the Rainforest (November 2005-May 2008).  Tucker can be contacted through her [email protected]