Liz Barber’s new body of work is vibrant, energetic and bursting with texture, color and shape.  Inspired by water, light and their reflective qualities her "window panes of light" combine a graphic element with something very organic.  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. 

Liz’s quiet and gentle nature strongly contrasts with her energetic, confident and highly textured paintings.  Inspirations from nature 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.”