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.

Simplify

I feel like I am doing a 180 from complexity to simplification. But the more abstract my work becomes, the better the response seems to be. I have discovered that the initial drawing from nature is not only essential for inspiration but keeps me happy during in the entire process. Can't let that go.

But simplification is not always simple, these are two versions I want to keep, there are others discarded.

Matting and framing

I haven't presented works on papers in quite awhile. I am excited how they look matted, really brings them out. However I have encountered a couple of frustrations when ordering products. One is most frames do not come with wire hanging hardware which is required when hanging in a gallery. The frames I usually order for my paintings from pictureframes.com come with all the needed hanging hardware. Didn't realize what a plus that was. I did think to order some custom mats in a slightly off white because I knew I would not like the bright whites that come with the frames. To me, off white looks better with watercolor paper. But I always forget you have to order backing boards extra. Most of the time when you order a mat you really also need an acid free backing board to go with it. So if you are rushing to get ready for a show, don't forget your wire hanging hardware and backing boards. I will be going out to get mine tomorrow.

Doing happy art makes me happy

I discovered something. Not just creating art that turns out well makes me happy but creating light, joyful art makes me physically happier and less stressed. I hope it is the same experience for the viewer.

Usually I only really like one section of a painting but this painting I only like in its entirety. Maybe that means I am improving?

More Abstract

I have been working prolifically and my art is becoming abstract. The work is leading me to use bigger brushes and prompting me to seek simpler compositions with less shapes. I paint with a sense of motion and desire more transparency of the media and areas of compressed space and overlap in the composition. I love light colors and want to use more of those. I am finding relief in the simplified works on paper not sure why the paintings on board are so complex. Really glad that I tried watercolors.

Mixed Media on Paper

 Paintings on Wood

In the Studio

So at the end of the Summer we got the studio renovated but I did not get much chance to use it until now. I imagined that I would have stations set up for drawing, collage and painting so that ideas would develop from the process and one idea would lead to another. My dreams have come true because that is what is happening. I am discarding about half of what I am making and I am itching to work on canvas again but new ideas are developing. These are all works on paper, I feel working on paper is faster and I want to keep things progressing quickly. I wonder how I would add painting on canvas into the mix? Sometimes when I get involved in a large painting I just work on that exclusively. I believe that I would need to just add it in and have several canvases ready to go. The studio seems to be like juggling and adding canvas would be like throwing another ball into the air. I am also using one drawing as a basis for all of the work but each one is still coming out differently.

Class Schedule

My Classes Coming Up at the Arts Center in Orange

I am excited about the new classes I have on the schedule:

https://artscenterinorange.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/the-arts-center-in-orange-winter-2014-15-news-classes.pdf

540-672-7311

email: theartsorange@aol.com

Drawing from Still Life

to Discover Your Style

Draw from still life set ups

and choose art elements to

emphasize. Use tracing paper

to further stylize and simplify

your drawings then execute

a finished piece in a media of

your choice.

Tuesdays, March 10 and 17

Time: 6-8pm

Instructor: Carol Barber

Ages: Teens, Adults

Registration $40, Supplies $10

 

 

Explorations in Nature

Use a variety of media to

gather sketches outside from

close up details to sweeping

landscapes

Tuesdays, March 24 and 31

Time: 6-8pm

Instructor: Carol Barber

Ages: Teens, Adults

Registration $40, Supplies $10

Paper, Paper, Finally Paper

For about six months, I have been thinking I really wanted to try working on paper with mixed media and I finally got a chance to go for it. I am happy with the results, I feel like the work has a freshness and room to breath. I enjoyed physically layering cut paper onto the work also. I can't wait to try it again.

Looking Forward to 2015!

I have a number of classes proposed for the Winter session at The Arts Center In Orange. These classes are meant to explore the unpredictable and mysterious nature of the creative process. I hope to find some participants to embark on this artistic adventure with me.

https://artscenterinorange.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/the-arts-center-in-orange-winter-2014-15-news-classes.pdf

I have one more month of full time elementary art teaching. This experience has been a great learning adventure. I am happy to report the individual spirit of our American youth is alive and well. These students could have tried to copy Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry, Starry Night" but I believe every one was inspired to follow their own artistic voice. The magic of children.

Vincent Van Gogh Inspired Pumpkins

I am having so much fun with Vincent Van Gogh and the fourth grade students. The students seem to really enjoy creating in his style.

Veterans Day Concert Art

From September through December, I am being a long term substitute teacher to approximately 440 third through fifth graders. I love coming up with projects and delighting in their creations. I have benefited so much from other teachers' projects that I have discovered on the internet. To give back, I wanted to share one of mine. I gave each student of a third grade class, a six inch square either white, blue or red. This assembly is large 6' x 9' once I glued the squares down on bulletin board paper. Most classes I gave a template of a head to trace onto construction paper to make into an American they are proud of. A lot of the students talked about family members that serve in the military. I also gave them some star templates to trace. Two classes I tried asking them to make an object that causes them to be proud of the U.S.A. My paper sample was ice cream because it reminded me of Fourth of July. So you see a lot of ice creams but I think it makes it look celebratory. Happy Veteran's Day!

Making a "Positive" Statement

"Billowing Up", acrylic on canvas, 9" x 12"

I created these paintings to apply for membership into the McGuffey Center for the Arts, as happy as I have ever been with a series and for the first time no plans for when or where they might be shown.

"At the Foot", acrylic on canvas, 24" x 12"

"Mountain Drive", acrylic on canvas, 12" x 16"

"Interwoven", acrylic on canvas, 40" x 30"

"In the Valley", acrylic on canvas, 18" x 24"

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My Statement

In a different context, I heard the phrase “positively filling negative spaces” and to me this represented my art in several ways. My process begins by quickly sketching in nature: seeing and experiencing my surroundings more than transcribing details. While being in nature I feel a love for it’s ever changing cycles and inspired by all of the beautiful visual variation. This experience positively fills my mind, crowding out negative thoughts.

Then I take these sketches back to the studio where a dialogue begins. I rework the sketches until the composition speaks to me telling me it’s main idea.  What is this view of nature showing?  Usually a verb is brought to mind such as growing, multiplying, expanding or comforting. Nature is always moving forward changing, evolving and making an active or positive mark.

Then the process of painting begins by choosing colors intuitively. I like using minimal black and white sketches as a reference because then during the painting process I am free to play with colors and add details. I love the results of the painting stages: seeing the layers and evidence of what came before and is partially covered. I enjoy the contrast of thick paint against thin washes and detail marks against areas of color. I imagine the air space in the painting being filled as if by soap bubbles, no real negative space. All filled positively.

Live Paint Demonstration at IX Park

A few weeks ago, I painted during a fund raiser called "Let's Revel" for IX Park in Charlottesville, VA. It was so much fun! I was painting away while so much was going on around me: live band performances, food and drink trucks, balloons flying around during an auction presentation, a drag act, people dressed in costumes and mural street artists painting away. To reflect the spirit of the night, I picked a friend of mine's former Halloween costumes. I combined two of her photos to get the image below with the blue face. I thought her head dress was creatively inspiring. People seemed to enjoy the quick evolution of the painting. And I loved performing this way.

Mural

I am working on the UV protection coats so I haven't taken down all of the plastic yet but almost there. I love being at the location, sad it is coming to an end.

Chicken Spot Illustration

I worked on making my latest painting into an illustration with Adobe Illustrator this morning. Would love to collaborate with my design and publishing friends this year.

Chicken in the Snow

"Chicken in the Snow", 18" x 18", acrylic on canvas.

One of my goals for 2014 is to be more direct with my painting. I want painting to be like drawing, feel immediate and expressive. One way to do this I feel is to paint more from life, so Tuesday I went out in the snow to paint. Well this was quite an experience with water based paint. By the end my water cup full of brushes turned to slushy. The wind was whipping, it sounded just like the cartoon version of "Rudolph" when the misfits run away. Once I got paint all over the canvas, I proceeded to drop it face down in the snow three times. So I took it into the studio to dry flat on the table so when the snow melted it didn't make the paint run. Well the end result with a little reworking is pretty cool. Maybe I will go throw another painting down in the snow today.

Mural Progress

I was doing a meditation and the facilitator asked what colors you were seeing for love and I saw magenta-purple and yellow-green. I wonder if they are my real colors of love or they are what I see when I close my eyes remembering the mural painting.