Liz Barber is an observer and lover of
nature. Using a soft palette of colors with vigorous brushstrokes, she
creates paintings that convey nature as constantly changing, shifting
and moving. Each painting recreates a moment of wind breezing through a
field or sunlight glinting on a flower petal. Atmospheric landscapes
blend with drawn images from memory. Her canvases tell a short story by
freezing a moment in time and then blending it with an abstracted
ground. The common thread that winds itself through it all is her
ability to capture a light source through its interaction with color.
The results are glowing, luminous, enhanced pictures of the gorgeous
effects of nature.
We were immediately drawn to this lovely, young artist whose quiet
and gentle nature seem to strongly contrast with her energetic,
confident and highly textured paintings. We love her inspirations from
nature that result in daring and unusual combinations of color, forceful
texture and the gentle luminosity ? all of which is borne from her
ability to draw.
Barber studied painting at the Massachusetts
College of Art and Moore College of Art in Philadelphia. Her work has
been represented in galleries up and down the East Coast, from Florida
to New York, and has been featured in publications including Art in the
U.S., Southern Living, South Carolina Homes and Gardens and the
Hampshire Gazette.
In her own words: ?There is always abstraction in my paintings no
matter what the subject matter is. Nature provides organic, compelling
shapes. Usually drawing is the starting point consisting of ambiguous
elements that add depth to the painting. Moments from the past are as
fragile and changing as nature itself. In my life, the way I see a leaf
falling can trigger a past memory. This is my emotional connection with
nature. My mother loved to garden and I was surrounded by flowers and
plants my whole childhood. I was happiest outside in the sunlight and I
paint from the perspective of capturing a memory of the way light moves.
The subject matter of nature provides a decadent ballet of movement and
change. This process makes visible my search through my memories. This
is how I connect with the viewer.?