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Q: Your work is unlike anyone else’s. There is such power and boldness in...
Barbara working on an interview. Photo: Maria Cox A: For thirty-three years I have worked exclusively in soft pastel on sandpaper. Pastel, which is pigment and a binder to hold it together, is as...
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Q: Can you give us your current elevator pitch?
Discussing Bolivian masks with Nika, Photo: David De Hannay A: Here it is: I am a New York visual artist, blogger, and author. For thirty-four years I have been creating original pastel-on-sandpaper...
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Pearls from artists* # 428
View from Isla del Sol in Bolivia * an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on. In its...
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Pearls from artists # 429
“Vincent’s Books” by Mariella Guzzoni *an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on. Vincent...
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Pearls from artists* # 435
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. Most artists are not as...
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Pearls from artists* # 437
Dragonfly on final approach * an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on. There really is...
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Q: Why do you make a preliminary drawing before you begin a pastel painting?
Preliminary charcoal drawing for “Enigma,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 26” x 20” A: I make a preliminary charcoal drawing because that’s how I like to begin thinking about and planning a new pastel...
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Q: When did you start using the sandpaper technique and why (Question from...
The start of a new pastel-on-sandpaper painting A: In the late 1980s when I was studying at the Art League School in Alexandria, VA, I enrolled in a three-day pastel workshop with Albert Handel, an...
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Q: You wear gloves and a mask when you are working in your studio, right? Can...
Barbara at work A: I wear a paper surgical mask – the type that has become ubiquitous since COVID – bought from a local medical supply store. I thoroughly coat my hands with barrier cream – Art Guard...
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Q: What is your process? (Question from artamour)
Some of Barbara’s pastels A: For thirty-six years I have worked exclusively in soft pastel on sandpaper. Pastel, which is pigment and a binder to hold it together, is as close to unadulterated color...
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Q: Many of the world’s cultures have a mask tradition. Is there something...
Bolivian Carnival Mask A: My subject matter emerges directly from my travels. I visited Bolivia in 2017. What I especially liked then – and now – about Bolivian Carnival masks, is that they include...
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