about rebecca barnard
Somerset based artist, Rebecca Barnard, was born in 1961 and has roots in agriculture and arable farming.
Rebecca travelled widely in her 20s, living, painting and working throughout Europe and Australia.
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.
Rebecca exhibits widely and her work is now in private collections in the UK and internationally, including USA, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Egypt. She has been selected for many prestigious exhibitions including the Royal Academy, Royal West of England Academy, The Society of Women Artists and the Mall Galleries.
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.
“The compulsion to create is not something I can choose to turn on and off. It is an addiction; and one 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.”
