ARTIST STATEMENT / BIOGRAPHY

ARTIST STATEMENT                                                                                                                                  

The process of creating art is both pleasurable and challenging, but it is mostly a continuous learning experience.  My images are an expression of my soul, inspired by what I see and feel at a particular moment in time.  I want to honor the beauty that surrounds us but is often overlooked.  I think Georgia O'Keeffe said it best when she said "I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for".  Painting is no longer an option for me, it has simply become my life's passion.  


BIOGRAPHY  -  b. 1961

Barbara Reich was born and raised in Michigan, and after many years working
for a large Insurance Company, decided to pursue a creative outlet.  She began
to study drawing and painting in 1990, and since leaving the Insurance Company
in 2001, she has been able to follow her hearts true desire and paint full time.  Barbara began to exhibit her work regularly, and was honored to be chosen by the Great Lakes Pastel Society to be a Featured Artist in 2006.  Barbara is included in "The Best of Michigan Artist & Artisans" book series and was awarded Third Place in Pastel, and she had two paintings chosen to be included in "The Best of America Pastel Artists, Volume II", which is being published at the end of 2009.  

Barbara has been able to study locally under some of the most wonderfully talented and supportive fine art instructors.  They have instilled in her the intense desire to draw better, paint color with more emotion, and always hunt and study the changing light.

Barbara's painting time is divided between studio painting, figurative work, and plein air painting.  Each strengthens the other.  The direct approach used with pastel imparts a sense of immediacy to a painting that is very different from any other medium she has used.  Barbara mostly paints in a representational manner with a heightened color palette.  She also has experience in Oil, Watercolor, and Charcoal.

Soft pastel is Barbara's first love.  Pastel sticks are considered one of the purest forms of pigment used in fine art today, and Barbara usually applies them over a sanded or toothy surface.  She enjoys that pastel can be used as a quick sketch medium, all the way up to a fully saturated pastel painting, noting that inspiration is always close at hand. 


AFFILIATIONS
 
Barbara is a member of the Great Lakes Pastel Society, the Pastel Society of the West Coast, Associate Member of the Pastel Society of America, the Grosse Point Artist Association, the Gladwin Area Artist Guild, and the Detroit Society of Women Painters and Sculptors. 


PUBLICATIONS

* Best of America Pastel Artists, Volume II.  *Includes "Soft Landing" and "Looking North".
* Informed Collector - e-newsletter dated 11/19/09,  Featured "Working in the Cold".
* The Best of Michigan Artist & Artisans, 2006.  Awarded Third Place in pastel for "Field of    Pheasants".
* Multiple C & G Newspapers
* Gladwin County Record & Beaverton Clarion:  11/06, 12/09.
* Strut Magazine   
* Romeo Observer


AWARDS

05/10   Honorable Mention, "Fitting the Field".
10/09   Finalist-Outstanding Pastel, "Working in the Cold", Fine Art Views Painting Competition.
09/09   Fav 15%, "The Garden Tender", Fine Art Views Painting Competition.
07/09   Michael Derbyshire Memorial Award, "Beach View, Lake Huron" 
08/08   Best of Show, "Looking Back" 
02/08   Virginia Thibodeaux Memorial Award for Drawing, "October on the Pere Marquette"
09/07   Third Place, "The Magnolia Tree"
11/06   Awarded "Featured Artist" for Nov/Dec Great Lakes Pastel Society
08/06   Honorable Mention, "Nesting Killdeer" 
07/06   Honorable Mention, "October on the Pere Marquette"
06/06   Third Place, "Field of Pheasants"
07/05   First Place, "Evening at Metro Beach"
07/05   Honorable Mention, "Working in the Cold"
08/04   Blue Ribbon, "All Together Now"
09/03   Honorable Mention, "Triple Treat"
02/03   Honorable Mention, "Springtime"
06/02   Honorable Mention, "Northern Forsythia"


CONTACT INFORMATION
Barbara Reich Studio
Gladwin, MI
989-246-1016

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