S t e v e B a r b e r
Artist
About me
I hail from Michigan and received my BA in painting and drawing at Graceland University, Lamoni Iowa in 1990. I received my MFA, with a painting and drawing concentration, at Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant Michigan in 1996. I have exhibited in state, regional, national, and international shows. I was a professor at Central Michigan University where I taught, painting, drawing, and design courses for 16 years.
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ARTIST STATEMENT
My work is a visual diary of all that moves me, inspires me, annoys me, and makes me laugh. Much of my work is very personal but it also can be inspired by literary sources. For me, to create is a celebration of life even if the subject is ominous. I enjoy the complexity of line in my paintings in which I strive to blend the strength of drawing (expressive line) and painting into a coherent and highly expressive creation. Creating art has a healing effect on my soul by purging me of that which is unbalanced.
My encaustic technique is what I call “scratching” and is a technique I developed after years of trial and error. I first put down an acrylic-base undercoat, usually black, on a wood surface. Once that base is dry I then choose my main colors, which are oil paint, and mix a cold wax medium with the paint. I then spread out the oil and wax layer, covering the acrylic base coat. I give it a day or two to dry, then I draw into it with a pencil or some other instrument to show the base undercoat. It is an obsessive and time consuming process, where a large painting could take me two to three hundred hours to complete. But since it is a labor of love, it matters not.
My watercolors also tend to be quite detailed with multiple layers. They are free to show their watery qualities, so accidents are fine and I let them lead me where they will. Like my scratchings, my watercolors have a strong linear quality caused by drawing into the paint with graphite. Some watercolors are portraits or illustrations that I have done for clients. But all clearly show my consistent, unique, expressive style.
My oils tend to employ soft edges and have a sense of memory and place. They tend to be unabashedly romantic. They also can be surreal in nature.
To the viewer I hope to express a general visceral feeling. However, I also enjoy the many interpretations that my work evokes that I may not have intended but find equally valid.