Barbara McDevitt Artist Illustrator Instructor Ancestral Slate ~ Decorative Art ~ House & Pet Portraits ~ My Magical Carousels ~ Welcome Plaques & Signs ~ Have an idea? Just ask. |
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
I have had an interest in painting since early childhood, fascinated by
watercolors and loving works of oil on canvas, especially seascapes. After
being giving the gift of encouragement in a beginner oil painting set my love of
creating with paint developed. The first nervous trials were comical and crude.
Very interested in minor details I would fuss and worry over those first small
paintings on canvas paper and board. Realizing the cost of the gift that had been
presented to me in that small beginner's set of oils and brushes, I decided to get
educated in creating beautiful pieces in oils.
Early in the 1970's sitting with the local telephone book searching for art
instruction I selected to study with the Art Students League of Marblehead,
Massachusetts and was fortunate to have mostly private lessons with artist
Kenneth Horowitz. Ken was an accomplished artist with many commissioned
paintings in his portfolio. The lessons were tedious for an undisciplined person
such as myself. For the first 6 weeks only pencil drawings were done until the
student could create a black & white copy of any photograph with paper and
pencil that was very close to the original. These tedious studies are what have
given me the ability to copy a photograph in creating house & pet portraits.
When finally 'allowed' to move on, the first oil on canvas took 6 months and is a
very pretty painting of a covered bridge in Pennsylvania copied from a small
photograph on a calendar. These lessons taught the student how important it is
to include in the painting items that cannot be seen with the naked eye but are
known to be there. In this 6 month period the student was also able to grasp a
knowledge and understanding of the importance of an under painting, and when
to stop working on a painting and calling it complete. Moving from the covered
bridge to seascapes taught me to appreciate the skills of a truly fine artist in the
ability to put on canvas a living-moving object like the ocean or a moving
stream. After some time when it was determined, (by Horowitz, not me), that I
had enough completed studies good enough for a showing. Instead I choose to
wait until I felt more accomplished.
Although no longer working with other artists I continued to expand my
experiences with mediums and textures. After being given yards and yards of
New England roofing slate it was time to make some of my paintings available
for sale. This is when the craft painting began. Inexperienced in showing at
craft shows and fairs I then jumped into the opportunity to gain some income
from my love. With the help of good friends I brought my work out to more and
more local craft shows. At one of these shows I was flattered after being
approached by a shop owner from the White Mountain area of New Hampshire
soliciting craft artisans to stock his retail shop. From there with a growing
number of new friends in the craft industry I was able to continue to learn more
and more of what the buying public was looking for.
Always in the back of my mind was the dream of owning my own studio/gallery
to be able to spend days on end painting. In 1993 an opportunity arose to at
least own my craft consignment shop. Since I had been selling in these shops
for some time, paying rent for display space or paying a consignment fee, it
seemed a good step toward my own studio/gallery. With my wonderful older
sister Nancy graciously agreeing to take care of the shop during the day at first I
continued to work full time while the consignment shop took wing. Renting
display space to quality artisans from all fields and at the same time having my
own work displayed was a wonderfully fertile ground. After 6 months of
operation I quit my full time job and found a part time position that would be less
draining on time and energies enabling me to spend more time in my own shop
and more time for my own painting. Those half dozen years were probably my
most content.
I no longer own my little shop and although back to work for others full-time I still
paint and teach decorate art techniques. Since 1999 most of my sales have been
through eBay auctions or word of mouth. I seldom do fairs or shows these days
but still go off to another world each time I work with my paints.
I have had an interest in painting since early childhood, fascinated by
watercolors and loving works of oil on canvas, especially seascapes. After
being giving the gift of encouragement in a beginner oil painting set my love of
creating with paint developed. The first nervous trials were comical and crude.
Very interested in minor details I would fuss and worry over those first small
paintings on canvas paper and board. Realizing the cost of the gift that had been
presented to me in that small beginner's set of oils and brushes, I decided to get
educated in creating beautiful pieces in oils.
Early in the 1970's sitting with the local telephone book searching for art
instruction I selected to study with the Art Students League of Marblehead,
Massachusetts and was fortunate to have mostly private lessons with artist
Kenneth Horowitz. Ken was an accomplished artist with many commissioned
paintings in his portfolio. The lessons were tedious for an undisciplined person
such as myself. For the first 6 weeks only pencil drawings were done until the
student could create a black & white copy of any photograph with paper and
pencil that was very close to the original. These tedious studies are what have
given me the ability to copy a photograph in creating house & pet portraits.
When finally 'allowed' to move on, the first oil on canvas took 6 months and is a
very pretty painting of a covered bridge in Pennsylvania copied from a small
photograph on a calendar. These lessons taught the student how important it is
to include in the painting items that cannot be seen with the naked eye but are
known to be there. In this 6 month period the student was also able to grasp a
knowledge and understanding of the importance of an under painting, and when
to stop working on a painting and calling it complete. Moving from the covered
bridge to seascapes taught me to appreciate the skills of a truly fine artist in the
ability to put on canvas a living-moving object like the ocean or a moving
stream. After some time when it was determined, (by Horowitz, not me), that I
had enough completed studies good enough for a showing. Instead I choose to
wait until I felt more accomplished.
Although no longer working with other artists I continued to expand my
experiences with mediums and textures. After being given yards and yards of
New England roofing slate it was time to make some of my paintings available
for sale. This is when the craft painting began. Inexperienced in showing at
craft shows and fairs I then jumped into the opportunity to gain some income
from my love. With the help of good friends I brought my work out to more and
more local craft shows. At one of these shows I was flattered after being
approached by a shop owner from the White Mountain area of New Hampshire
soliciting craft artisans to stock his retail shop. From there with a growing
number of new friends in the craft industry I was able to continue to learn more
and more of what the buying public was looking for.
Always in the back of my mind was the dream of owning my own studio/gallery
to be able to spend days on end painting. In 1993 an opportunity arose to at
least own my craft consignment shop. Since I had been selling in these shops
for some time, paying rent for display space or paying a consignment fee, it
seemed a good step toward my own studio/gallery. With my wonderful older
sister Nancy graciously agreeing to take care of the shop during the day at first I
continued to work full time while the consignment shop took wing. Renting
display space to quality artisans from all fields and at the same time having my
own work displayed was a wonderfully fertile ground. After 6 months of
operation I quit my full time job and found a part time position that would be less
draining on time and energies enabling me to spend more time in my own shop
and more time for my own painting. Those half dozen years were probably my
most content.
I no longer own my little shop and although back to work for others full-time I still
paint and teach decorate art techniques. Since 1999 most of my sales have been
through eBay auctions or word of mouth. I seldom do fairs or shows these days
but still go off to another world each time I work with my paints.
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| The artist |
