Cheers to 2017!

I was so happy with my studio time this year. Making new connections on Instagram and being involved with the Welcome Gallery in downtown Charlottesville, VA were also some highlights. So many things I want to accomplish in 2018: one is getting my art out into the world in an organized way, working on exciting compositions and bringing the magic of working on paper to canvas. I am also working on my teachers' certification. Hope all of your dreams come true in 2018!

Built on Broken Dreams

18” x 24”,

acrylic on canvas

Spring Blossoms

18” x 18”,

acrylic on canvas
Available

Alternate Paths II

14” x 17”, 

acrylic & cut paper on paper

Alternate Paths I

14” x 17”, 

acrylic & cut paper on paper

Where the Green Grass Grows II

14” x 16”, 

acrylic & cut paper on paper

Towering

14” x 17”, 

acrylic & cut paper on paper

Destination Vacation

24” x 36”,

acrylic on canvas

Available works on paper matted to 8" x 10"

Carol H. Barber © 2017

Artist Exchange

The New City Arts Artists Exchange show! I was so happy to be included in the artist exchange this year. I created 16 pieces of similar art to be traded with 13 other artists. So now I own 13 pieces of new and original art and two of my pieces will be sold to help the gallery and Housing2Home. A show of each of the pieces from the exchange will be shown for two weeks at the Welcome Gallery from January 12 – 26, 2018. I hope you can come to the opening, Friday, January 12 from 5PM-7:30PM off the downtown mall in Charlottesville, VA.

 Gallery and show information

Above is my exchange art when it was still together, now it is dispersed among the artists and gallery.​ Looking forward to seeing you in 2018!    –Carol Barber

Visual Poetry

Ralph Waldo Emerson, “We may climb into the thin and cold realm of pure geometry and lifeless science, or sink into that of sensation. Between these extremes is the equator of life, of thought, or spirit, or poetry—a narrow belt.”

My graduate advisor, Dr. Halide Salam, just posted this quote. It gives me inspiration and new energy. I got into pitching geometry with spontaneous brush strokes from watching clouds interact with mountain shapes on my daily drives. But this is so much deeper. The quote was with an exhibition of the work of the late Jake Berthot.

"New Years", collage and acrylic on paper, 9" x 12", Carol H. Barber © 2017

New Painting

I am happy the composition that emerged in this painting. I painted on raw canvas and I think the novelty of the experience slowed me down and kept me from overworking it. I was surprised that the painting became about texture. The brush strokes did not readily stick to the raw canvas and this gave a dry brush effect. I thought it was going to be more poured stains and look like watercolor. I will now seal the back and the front of the canvas to keep it from shifting in color.

"Soft Landing", acrylic on raw canvas, 25"x 39"
Carol H. Barber © 2017

Pink Notes

This painting, Pink Notes, spoke to me in new ways. I find the process of collage so satisfying and an inventive way of working. I have been trying to bring that way of working into painting. This painting has some collage added to it and it has a history of layers but still retains some of it's initial thin washes. This is the first time I thought of shapes not just coming together to construct something but expanding apart and still relating to each other. I love finding those relationships and to me this is visually composing. I have very limited musical knowledge but this process and painting feels like visual music to me. Notes (or shapes) hanging in the air, expanding and leading to another.

Pink Notes, 12” x 24”,

acrylic and collaged paper on canvas, Carol H. Barber©2017

Sweet Secrets, 8” x 10”,

acrylic and collaged paper on paper, Carol H. Barber©2017

This years beach paintings

Here are some closer pictures so that you can see these beach inspired paintings a little better. I love Golden acrylic mediums, they can alter the paint to be fluid, creamy, transparent or grainy. Perfect for capturing the feeling of the ocean.

Surf and Sand, 18" x 24", acrylic on canvas
© Carol H. Barber 2017

Catch a Wave, 16" x 12", acrylic on canvas 
© Carol H. Barber 2017

Last Year's Vacation Painting

Go to the Ocean

18” x 24”,

acrylic on canvas, Carol Barber©2016.

Whoa Two Years!

Hello Google Search World,

I stopped keeping this blog two years ago, about the time I allowed myself to go nonrepresentational in my art. I have grown so much towards art of which I can be truly proud. It is still a journey and new things to strive towards everyday but I love the path that I am on. I caught a glimpse of my art in a google search today and WHAT? Nothing new in two years!?? I have been active on Instagram and my Wordpress but not here. So does that mean I don't exist in the Google world? I guess so. Now let me start working to get you caught up Google. I am going to post some favorites from the last two years and see what happens. Thank you for an interest in my work, I would enjoy hearing from you. Art is my lifelong passion.

Carol Barber

The Other Side, 16" x 20", acrylic on canvas, Carol Barber © 2016.