by Barbara Downs | Sep 21, 2019
In a moment of surprising forethought and planning when I was in high school, I took some drafting classes because I knew I wanted to study art in college, but I also knew that I needed to earn a living. Why not do drafting as my day job? I liked drawing and the...
by Barbara Downs | May 25, 2019
I finished this piece, Nothing But Blue Skies, some time ago, but I was so busy getting it finished and shipped to Venice for the European Cultural Centre’s Biennale show that I neglected to cover it in my blog at all. I’ll make amends now. Like a...
by Barbara Downs | Dec 30, 2018
Sometimes I think I’ve finished something and it turns out that I’m wrong. The longer a piece sits in my studio, the more chance there is that I will modify it at some point. This is especially true of paintings and encaustic because they are both...
by Barbara Downs | Jan 26, 2018
There are plenty of barns in Iceland. And there is plenty of appeal for me in a barn: a long, low, simple building, a blocky shape dropped onto the landscape with little innate beauty. Its utility is not obvious from the outside, and any windows are placed too high...
by Barbara Downs | Apr 27, 2017
We’re having a Spring Studio Sale at Mission Industrial Studios! Where: Mission Industrial Studios, 2573 Mission St., Santa Cruz When: May 6-7, 1pm-6pm Many of you have visited me at Open Studios, but this is not the same sort of event. My studio is currently...