LIZ BARBER

Liz Barber is a distinguished contemporary artist known for her light-infused paintings inspired by “the ocean and water in general,” according to the artist. “I grew up right on the ocean in Massachusetts and it plays a huge role in my work.” She also captures the changing seasons of her native New England with incandescence and a soft palette of colors.

“I pour colors onto the canvas and watch what happens, intuitively editing and adding in a manner similar to the impressionist mindset,” Liz explained. “There is, in me, a constant attentive awareness to create light within the work through color pairings and interactions. I am projecting an emotional response to my surroundings. A moment is captured not as a pastoral landscape; but as the glow of light or movement of forms. My tendency leans to the calm, soothing organic application over the vigorous brushstroke.”

For her method, Liz described it as varied. “I use ink, gouache and watercolor to begin a piece,” she said. “These can be manipulated and moved around as I form the idea of the painting. I also use graphite and oil pastel as drawn elements. I love to use mark making in the painting as a resting place for the eye. And to add diversity from the very organic shapes used in my work. Translucency is created in many ways and is usually the result of great experimentation. Water and mediums are added to the materials to ‘see what happens.’ I then use hard edges in oil paint to edit finding the gems in the underlying layers.”

Liz studied painting at the Massachusetts College of Art and Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, and now lives in Georgia. She has been commissioned by The Cosmopolitan Resort in Las Vegas, The Beverly Hills Hotel and Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, CT. Recently Archbold Hospital acquired 14 paintings for their new healthcare facility in Thomasville, GA.

Liz's work is showing at Keyes Art, East Hampton, NY; and has also been exhibited at the following venues among many others: Jules Place, Boston, MA; Pryor Fine Art, Atlanta, GA; Addison Gallery, Delray Beach, FL; Atrium Art Gallery, Charleston, SC; Merritt Gallery, Baltimore, MD; and  Pippin Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM.