Barbara "Brigit" Bishop,
a member of the Society for Decorative Painters and currently manager of the Fellowship Center in Virginia Beach, is an Artist. Her business, Be Brilliant, promotes her interior and exterior decorative painting skills. Her faux-finishes and murals will intrigue you but she doesn't't stop there. She paints furniture, rocks, clothes, rugs, ceramics, floors, the occasional canvas and even people. She also sews, weaves, quills (paper filigree), wood burns, beads, and creates jewelry, candles, baskets and more. She has been an artistic creator for as long as she can remember.

Barbara joined the Society of Creative Anachronism (SCA), a non-profit educational group that re-creates the middle ages, in 1992. Since then she has been adding many more arts and medieval sciences to her list. In the SCA she is known as Countess Brigit, picking up her nick-name which she is now better known as, and she spends a good deal of her time as a scribe. Learning, doing and teaching a variety of calligraphy, illumination, Celtic knot work, making paints and brushes and papers, and applying the gilding or gold leafing of old.... many arts that are all but lost in today's world.

"I love art. I live for art. My happiest days are spent creating something beautiful that will bring joy into the lives of others." she says with bright eyes and a ready smile. "I believe one of the biggest compliments you can give an artist is to display their work in your personal space. It is always a thrill for me to see my creations in someone's home."

Her background is as diverse and eclectic as her works. Leaving a lucrative job at a nuclear power plant, (realizing the potential health hazards outweighed the financial compensation) she proceeded on a whirlwind tour of gypsy-like employment. She has worked on a farming commune in Denmark, taught English in Japan, been a tour guide in México, started a successful all natural, animal-free cosmetic demonstration company in California, managed Apartment complexes in Virginia, and a variety of other jobs in between. She aspires to bringing color to the bases of Antarctica with her painting and looks forward to being paid for yet another adventure.