Biography
Having moved to the Tampa Bay area, Florida, in 2003, Barbara now gives private art lessons to high school and adult students in her Dunedin home studio. After teaching college art classes, Barbara enjoys the one-on-one format enabling her to customize instruction to the skill level and interests of the student. Her students thrive with Barbara’s gentle confidence-building of the artist within. Barbara teaches watercolor, acrylic and oil painting along with drawing. As a colorist, Barbara stresses the importance of learning how to mix colors. She is well grounded in traditional and contemporary painting as well as art history.
Barbara earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with honor in oil painting and education at Michigan State University. After exhibiting and teaching art for 16 years, she chose Eastern Michigan University for her Master’s degree work in traditional painting. She earned her Master’s degree in acrylic painting. Upon graduation, she resumed exhibiting and teaching art. She has taught art for over 30 years at East Lansing Arts Workshop, Michigan State University, Lansing Community College, Hillsborough Community College and privately.
Barbara demonstrating plein air painting on the Nature Center deck, Honeymoon Island State Park, Florida.
When Barbara moved to Florida from Michigan in 2003, she brought with her excellent exhibition experience, from solo to group shows, all juried. Example: A watercolor was selected for a statewide exhibition traveling to various Michigan museums and galleries.
In Florida her acrylic painting “Parforce II” was awarded 2nd place in “The Salon” painting competition juried by The Arts Center, St. Petersburg, Assistant Curator.
In 2012 Barbara was honored by her work being juried into both the Florida Watercolor Society and International Society of Acrylic Painters annual exhibitions.
Her works are in both private and corporate collections.
Barbara's Work:
Acrylic, Watercolor and Oil Painting
“My painting comes from a place within that
merges with an experience and/or place:
As I have sailed, canoe-camped and
walked in natural beauty
From Canadian wilderness
To Caribbean blue-green water
To Colorado’s rushing currents
To Florida’s peaceful parks
I have translated my internal stirrings to
what I see
Sometimes contrasting soft edges of foliage
With the hard of old architecture
Sometimes interpreting abstractly
Sometimes capturing realistically
My work takes on a poignancy as my concern deepens as we steadily lose more and more of our natural world resulting from global warming. I hope I am not painting memorials to what will become what was.”