About
Somerset based artist, Rebecca Barnard, was born in 1961 and has roots in agriculture and arable farming.
Rebecca's childhood years brought her very close to the countryside. She drew the landscapes around where she lived in as soon as she was able and is still primarily attracted to the light and seasonal changes which were such an innate part of her life as a child. After early adult years living, working and painting mainly landscapes in both Europe and Australia, she later attended the Heatherley School of Fine Art but is largely self taught.
Rebecca exhibits widely and her work is now in private collections throughout the UK and internationally, including USA, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Egypt.
Her recent work has become more abstracted and the physical process of making an image is as important to Rebecca as the emotion evoked by the outcome. She continues to experiment with different media and subject matter, but remains fundamentally rooted in nature.
Rooted in the land, each piece has its own palette and story. Most of the works are completed in the studio, with its facilities; a hob to melt wax for encaustic, running water, mountains of gathered objects and materials, allowing the the work to evolve and form over time. The West Country and Pembrokeshire are often centres of inspiration, but the visual world provides motivation to make marks wherever she travels.
“My work comes from an organic place. The earthy landscape combined with the elements from which it is made are what compels me to create. To feel the texture and structure of a weathered object, or see the effects of the forces of our natural world at work, is like hearing a siren call to recreate it using my hands, paint, the materials around me. To me, these things are thrilling and when combined with atmosphere, shape and the instinct to make; the whole is irresistible."
Rebecca Barnard lives and works in Somerset and, alongside her own practice, is Co-Director of Heritage Courtyard Gallery and Studios in the centre of Wells, a unique venture which provides a quality platform for creative practice within a supportive and stimulating environment as well as being a hub for all the community to enjoy a variety of contemporary art by some of the West Country’s finest artists, and join regular creative workshops throughout the year.