Portfolio of Works

You could say all of Barbara's work has a narrative aspect, but the work in this collection clearly evokes a story behind the image.

Still life was Barbara's first love, but few of  her recent paintings are as purely still life as these.  Many of the narrative paintings make extensive use of still life images to evoke part of the story.

Barbara's expressive heads almost all have a humorous quality, the kind you almost never see in portraiture.  They too have an obvious narrative quality: what is she bummed about?; what's the little secret behind the Joker's twinkle? 

      Barbara can also see expressive-style portraits appealing to those seeking something less conventional in a commissioned portrait!  

The three images of "Becky" on the first line are a single commission, a triptych inspired by some of Barbara's expressive portraits. An expressive portrait is an alternative to a more conventional portrait like the one below of Jeff, the Photographer.  Even though the portrait of Jeff is more conventional in presentation, Barbara was able to capture an expression that was emblematic of his personality, an expression that was achieved via a photo session with the Jeff during which 75 -100 photos were taken allowing the artist to catch his face at unguarded moments.  A photo session with the portrait subject is ideal to allow Barbara to get to know the person and get many, many images from which the sitter and/or his or her family or friends can identify a favorite which can then be used as the basis for the painted image.