Before moving to Sennen, Cornwall in 1975, Bailey had trained and worked as a ceramic tile designer and decorator in Marlborough, Gloucestershire. In Cornwall she and her husband purchased and ran the First and Last Post Office at Sennen.

The couple then decided to spend six years cruising in the Mediterranean before returning to live in Cornwall. She paints in oils and watercolours, and exhibits in mixed shows across Cornwall. Prints of her work are handled by Cornish Art Prints, Wheal Kitty, St Agnes, where an exhibition of her work can be viewed on-line.