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Pearls from artists* # 23
LACMA * an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on. My composition arises out of asking...
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Q: When and why did you start working on sandpaper?
Raw sandpaper A: In the late 1980s when I was studying at the Art League in Alexandria, VA, I took a three-day pastel workshop with Albert Handel, an artist known for his southwest landscapes in...
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Q: The handmade frames on your large pastel-on-sandpaper paintings are quite...
“Quartet” (left) and “Epiphany,” soft pastel on sandpaper A: I have been working in soft pastel since 1986, I believe, and within six years the sizes of my paintings increased from 11″ x 14″ to 58″ x...
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Q: To be a professional visual artist is to have two full-time jobs because...
No computer in sight A: With social media and other new ways of doing business, managing it all is getting more difficult every day. Bear in mind that I say this as someone who does not have the...
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Q: What is it about soft pastel that you find so intriguing that you use it...
Some of Barbara’s pastels A: For starters it’s the medium that I fell in love with many years ago. I recently read this article online, “What is Pastel?” by Mike Mahon, and will quote it because it...
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Pearls from artists* # 41
White Sands, NM * an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on. If you look at the work of an...
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Q: Your pastel-on-sandpaper paintings are very labor intensive. Do you...
Works in progress, soft pastel on sandpaper, 58″ x 38″ A: For many years I always worked on one at a time because I have only one or two ideas – never more than that – about what I will make next....
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Pearls from artists* # 59
Studio * an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on. Friends sometimes ask, “Don’t you get...
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Pearls from artists* # 98
Teleidoscope * an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on. A work of art can start you...
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Q: Can you talk a little bit about your process? What happens before you even...
Barbara in Bali (far right) A: My process is extremely slow and labor-intensive. First, there is foreign travel – often to Mexico, Guatemala or someplace in Asia – to find the cultural objects –...
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Pearls from artists* # 137
“She Embraced It and Grew Stronger,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 58″ x 38″ * an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the...
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Pearls from artists* # 139
“Broken,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 38″ x 58″ * an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on....
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Q: How do you think living in New York affects your work?
Lower Manhattan A: Arguably, life in New York provides an artist with direct access to some of the best international art of the past, the present, and probably the future. It is possible to see more...
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Q: What’s on the easel today?
Work in progress A: This one has been a problem child. Here is a large pastel painting called, “Charade, ” that still needs a lot of work. Comments are welcome!Filed under: An Artist's Life, Art...
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Q: Do you have a daily ritual that helps you start working in your studio?
Barbara’s studio A: In the morning before I start working on a pastel painting, I read for roughly half an hour. Usually I read something art-related; for example, see the books that are quoted on...
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Pearls from artists* # 170
Barbara at work, Photo: Marianne Barcellona * an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on....
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Q: How many pastel paintings do you have in progress now?
Work in progress A: Making pastel-on-sandpaper paintings is a slow and meticulous process. I work full-time in my studio so that in a good year I can produce five finished pieces. Typically two are...
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Pearls from artists* # 198
“Troublemaker,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 20″ x 26″ * an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we...
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Pearls from artists* # 207
Barbara’s studio * an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on. More than in any other...
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Pearls from artists* # 209
“So What?”, soft pastel on sandpaper, 20″ x 26″ * an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are...
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