artist bio

Brie McWade is an ink illustrator with nearly four decades of creative practice behind her. Known for detailed, monochromatic line work that sits somewhere between realism and abstraction, she works under the name The Brie Side, borrowed from the B side of a cassette tape, where the unexpected passion projects and secret favorites hide behind the polished hits.

Watercolor is her second language, the looser, brighter counterpart to her linework, where she lets color and water do some of the deciding.

Brie grew up in Seattle, exploring the mountains and forests of the Pacific Northwest and spending summers on the beaches of Westport, Washington, all of which shaped her lifelong pull toward nature. She has called Los Angeles home for the past ten years. Alongside her artwork, she has built more than fifteen years in design, communications, technical writing, and creative direction.

Brie is also a teaching artist. Her teaching roots go back to volunteering as an elementary school art docent, and today she brings hands-on watercolor workshops to corporate events and team gatherings, where she helps people who swear they "can't paint" find out otherwise. She is a resident artist at Composed Living in Woodland Hills, where her work is on display and she guides public creative workshops.

She now writes Treading Watercolor: Ink, Paint, and the Slow Work of Staying Afloat, a Substack for busy working people who want to make real room for creative practice.

Commissions and workshop bookings are open. She is most often asked for custom pieces that honor homes, cities, and personal landmarks. You can see her latest work and collections in progress on Instagram: @the_brie_side.