Barbara Ryan
Palmyra, Virginia
A Virginia artist dancing the line between representational and abstract.
MessageStatement
My style of painting is the result of many decades of painting and experimenting with numerous
artistic media. It has developed through the concentration of studies and passions, starting with
my love of nature, and landscapes in particular. I have worked with watercolors, pastels,
sculpture, glass mosaics, stain glass, wall murals, and both oil and acrylic paints, often with the
theme of nature and landscapes.
My style started as representational in nature, slowly evolving into a more impressionistic style.
As more time went by though, I found myself wanting to capture more of the mood or
atmosphere of a place then the actual representation of it. Recording the shapes, colors, textures,
and sounds of a place became more important to me, and my work became more intuitive and
abstract.
When I begin a painting, I spread paint in an exhilarating period of complete freedom, energy,
and expression. Moving paint around the canvas, at the beginning stages I’m guided mostly by
my instincts and love of color and texture. Using paint and a variety of other media I add
pigment, then take it way, painting over, scraping back, creating depth and a sense of history. I
use contrasting elements to create both attention and tension: warm colors vs. cool colors, texture
vs. smooth, high energy marks supported by calm. Layering and scraping until there is a sense of
completion, and an accuracy of feeling.
My paintings are personal reflections and interpretations of the life around me. Fields, streams,
beaches, mountains, horizons, flowers and trees. These are the motifs I repeat, rework, build
upon and destroy in my process. The manipulation of paint and the subtle surprises achieved
of a place, sometimes remembered, sometimes imagined.
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