Award winning artist expresses herself through painting, capturing local color

My paintings express my feeling of joy," said Barbara Barnett, University development.

Ranging from an intimate painting of young children to an outdoor market scene to a landscape depicting the wide-open spaces of Texas plains and sky, Barnett's artworks have won awards in juried shows, and many have been sold through galleries, exhibitions or privately.

She first used oils, later acrylics, then watercolors. Barnett said she favors transparent watercolors using no white pigment, so the different layers of color and glazes can be seen.

Growing up in east Tennessee, Barnett earned her degree in fine arts from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and taught art to children with physical disabilities until her son and daughter were born.

Her husband worked for IBM so the family moved from Knoxville to Cincinnati, Louisville and, eventually, Dallas.

In each location, Barnett connected with fellow artists, joining in the local art scene. In Kingsport, Tenn., she served on the fine arts board, which helped launch a cultural center. In Cincinnati, she joined a group of 11 landscape artists and learned to use acrylics. In Kentucky, her paintings were hung on consignment in a gallery where she volunteered to help out a few hours each week.

"Each place was different and offered new kinds of landscapes, architecture and artistic experiences," Barnett said.

Dallas provided a dramatic change. "From greenery, hills, mountains, water and rocks, suddenly I found myself
in a flat, open plain with no landmarks. But, it was a wonderful experience," she said. "The skies changed so dramatically, especially when a storm was brewing, and I became more aware of light and color and my palette brightened," Barnett said.

She studied art there at the community college with a talented young teacher and also joined the Plano Art League.

When her husband died of a heart attack at the age of 45, Barnett moved back to Knoxville, to be on hand for her mother. "I had let my teaching license lapse, and it was going to take two years of classes and practice teaching to renew it. Instead, I decided to take courses to become an administrative secretary and went to work for the University of Tennessee. With a husband who worked for IBM, I did not find computers intimidating, and I enjoyed the technology and graphics," she recalled.

Again, she was involved in art, joining the Fountain City Watercolor Guild, which stressed the use of transparent watercolors, now her favorite medium. Two of the paintings hanging on her office wall, a colorful floral painting, Blossoms Bursting, and a more structured, faceted design, Two Toucans, won awards in Knoxville shows.

Barnett came to Wilmington two years ago to be near her daughter and her son, who lives in Pennsylvania. "I like working in an academic atmosphere, so I applied at the University of Delaware for a job," she said.

As usual, she has made an art connection and has had paintings on the Wilmington Art Loop at Grace United Methodist Church. A painting entitled Kaleidescope, which received an Art Loop award, and has been sold.

Barnett is enjoying painting the Wilmington scene, especially "all that wonderful stonework you find in walls and houses," she said. She added that one of her favorite places for outdoor sketching is Wilcastle on UD's Wilmington campus.

--Sue Swyers Moncure