About
Somerset based artist, Rebecca Barnard, was born in 1961 and has roots in agriculture and arable farming.
Her childhood years brought her very close to the countryside. She drew the landscapes around where she lived pretty soon after she was able to hold a pencil and is still primarily attracted to the light and seasonal changes which were such an innate part of her life as a child.
Rebecca travelled widely in her 20s, living, painting and working throughout Europe and Australia. She exhibits widely and her work is now in private collections in the UK and internationally, including USA, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Egypt.
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.
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, running water, drawers of pigments, 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.
“The compulsion to create is not something I can choose to turn off and on. It is the only addiction on the planet for which I can feel truly blessed. 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 paint and the materials around me. To me, these things are thrilling and when combined with 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. She also teaches both oil painting and cold wax technique as part of the educational programme within the space.