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The
artist painting at Notre Dame, Paris, France 2005.
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"At
the age of seven, while walking down a windswept stretch
of North Carolina's Atlantic shore, I stumbled upon my destiny.
My family and I found an artist, an older gentleman of smallish
stature, wearing a blue beret and painting the scene before
him. Very casually, using bits and dabs of paint on his
small canvas, he was creating a virtual world of a lighthouse
and the vast sea beyond. I was thunderstruck by the magic
conjured by this quiet, little man! I recall being transfixed
by what I saw before me and overtaken by the desire to create
such beauty.
"Years later, during
the late 1960s, I found myself living in Richmond, Virginia
studying art at Virginia Commonwealth University. There
I was introduced to the nearby Chesapeake Bay. I was at
once attracted to this great "inland sea" and
its picturesque harbors, proud and enduring lighthouses
and graceful workboats operated by hearty watermen. These
fiercely independent souls, who gleaned their livelihood
from the bay's waters, were direct descendants of the tough
European settlers who carved this land out of wilderness.
"My love for the sea,
and for the story of the Chesapeake and her people, would
eventually direct my entire artistic career. However, I
was not content to simply paint scenes of the bay in a superficial
way. I've always been interested in how things work, and
thus I proceeded to learn as much about my newfound subject
as possible. I built a small wooden sailing sloop in the
late 1970s and from Albatross' deck began to explore the
open bay, her rivers and quiet creeks. I covered much of
the bay's 10,000-mile shoreline from the deck of my first
Albatross, as well as on the five to follow. In those early
days I'd take photographs from which to paint and bring
them back to the studio. Soon, I realized that the cold
eye of the camera was a poor substitute for careful observation
and notation, so I included my sketchpad and eventually
began to paint in the field.
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"Fair Breeze and a Full Moon",
published as a limited edition print in 1992.
Click on any artwork image for enlargement
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"I've
sailed aboard and painted most of the surviving Chesapeake
Bay Skipjacks. These boats are the last remaining fishing
vessels to work under sail in North America. They are indigenous
to the bay and were built locally of wood, with huge mainsails
and jibs. They were designed to dredge the nearly extinct
American Oyster from shallow Chesapeake waters. There are
fewer than a dozen of these vessels that survive today.
Some were nearly a century old when I painted them.
"In addition to skipjacks,
I've worked aboard and painted deadrise crab boats, clammers,
eelers and gill netters out for a fine catch of fish. |
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John aboard City of Crisfield with Captain
Art Daniel in Wenona Harbor on Deal Island, Maryland.
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"Countless
watermen and I have broken ice with the bow of the boat
while heading out for the oyster grounds in winter and pulled
crab pots from before daybreak through the stifling mid-day
August heat. All this was due to my love of the sea and
my desire to intimately learn my subject in order to paint
it with certainty and respect.
"I've
also painted other aspects of Chesapeake country. Lighthouses,
flashing their beacons to weary mariners, have often been
the subjects of my brush, as well as yachts bounding over
tempestuous seas, quaint fishing harbors and quiet marshes
abundant with life. Some of my art captures scenes from
earlier times and was reconstructed from archival photographs,
engravings, maps and the like.
"Over
the years I've created more than 500 pieces of art illustrating
the bay's every mood, and during this process I've developed
an abiding love and respect for the Chesapeake and her people.
Many of those I've met along the way have become lifelong
friends.
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"Il Campo - Siena, Italy", painted in 2006 while on location.
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"While
much of my career has been devoted specifically to the Chesapeake
Bay and the marine genre, I began to expand my subject matter,
rather accidentally, when I painted while on vacation. Late
in the 1980s I began to travel with a sketch easel. I painted
small canvases which could be done quickly on the site within
a few hours. Because they were created in nature, or in the
"open air", French impressionists referred to these
pieces as "plein air" paintings. In this fashion
I've captured fleeting moments all over the Chesapeake, mountain
lakes and harbors in the Great Northwest, lighthouses and
yachts in New England, landscapes around the U.S., volcanic
beaches in Central America, sunsets in the Caribbean and architecture
and landscapes in Europe. I was quite surprised to realize
how much I enjoyed painting architecture. I relished the challenge
of perspective and how the adroit use of light and shadow
forms a building's fullness on the canvas. Since these pieces
are done from our travels, my wife and I have become quite
fond of some of them and chosen to keep them as remembrances
of very special times and places. |
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"I
feel very blessed to have been given this gift and to have
been able to spend a life doing what I love. I do hope you
enjoy my artwork and I look forward to hearing from you.
And whether I'm painting yacht racing on the Chesapeake
or the intricate stonework of the Trevi Fountain in Rome,
I'm still amazed by how bits and dabs of paint can produce
such wonderful illusions on canvas. The little boy is still
there within me, standing thunderstruck by the magic taking
place before him." - John Morton Barber
The Extended Barber Family- Standing: Shigeru Nakajima, John, Joshua, Adam, Melissa, Sitting - Kathy, Yoshitaka, Mizuha and her mother Setsuko Nakajima.
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John's
wife Kathy Barber - Lucca, Italy 2008
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"Diamonds
on the Water," published as a limited
edition print in 2001. |
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"The
effect of light on my subjects has always captivated me
- the late day sun glimmering on the water like tiny jewels,
the majesty of golden light on towering cumulus clouds and
billowing sails and the soft illumination and shadow that
velvets the misty morning landscape. It is the magic of
creating light on canvas that I've pursued for a lifetime."
-John Morton Barber |
John
painting in plein air in Rome, 1998.
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"La
Fontana di Trevi", painted on site in Rome, 1998
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| "Plein
air painting is a distillation of the painter's entire
experience. Through working in the field I've learned much
about the essence of what we do as artists. Because the
sun is moving, clouds are coming and going, and wind and
insects are all conspiring against us, the painter is forced
to quickly create his "virtual reality" on canvas.
The artist must immediately get down the shapes of the subject,
inject them with dimension through the use of hue and tone,
and create distance and atmosphere - all within a finite
timeframe. It is due to this immediacy that the painting
is not overworked or overburdened with extraneous detail-
the result being a spontaneous piece of art capturing the
essence of the subject."
-John Morton Barber |
The
progression of a painting. Above is an example of
a recent commission coming to life on canvas, from initial
study to completed master. |
"From
my experience in the field, I'll bring photos, sketches and
often plein air oil studies back to my studio. Here I will
reconstruct the scene which is to be painted. If I still have
compositional issues to resolve, I'll make small pen or pencil
sketches. If the painting is complex in color and composition
I may then do a small oil study in the studio to refine any
questions remaining. Now with the scene firmly fixed in my
mind, I'll transfer the drawing to the stretched canvas. Using
a loose mixture of oil paint and mineral spirits, I cover
the entire canvas with tones approximating the final palette.
I gradually build up and refine detail in the elements until
my artistic vision has been fulfilled" -John Morton
Barber
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Lowell Smith, Sr. and his commissioned work "Trains
on the James", completed in 2004. |
Often
individuals and organizations will request of Mr. Barber
a special painting of their own design. The artist is quite
adept in recreating, on canvas, such scenes as imagined
by the client. Currently, he is working on a number of such
commissioned pieces. These individuals will certainly enjoy
a lifetime of pleasure from the unique, original works of
art which were created expressly for them and will be passed
down through generations to come. If you have such dreams
and you would like to have John capture them on canvas,
contact the artist for details concerning pricing and scheduling.
Contact us at info@johnbarberart.com
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If you would like to receive John Barber's "Wet Paint" emails featuring his latest original paintings, please send an email to info@johnbarberart.com
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WWII
commission press release (164
KB)
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"Tribute to a Generation"
John M. Barber Recognized Nationally through WWII Commission
Barber
Retires after 25 Years of Print Making (112
KB)
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New Focus on Original Art
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According to John, "I
find Joshua's paintings to be bold in concept yet so sensitively
executed."
Joshua's paintings have been exhibited in London, New York and Los Angeles. His work has also been exhibited at the prestigious Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ “Art After Hours” for the last three years.
Joshua is represented by Tunnadine Fine Art in the United Kingdom and Gallery 5800 in the United States.
To view more of Joshua Barber's
artwork, please visit: http://www.joshuabarberfineart.com
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