Bio:
Hi! I am Barbara Waid, a native Washingtonian, with the mossy back, rusty armpits, etc. Growing up in Port Angeles and Sequim, I came to the Tacoma area for college (CPS/UPS), achieving 5 minors and no majors before getting married.
I took my first actual art lessons after having two children – as a one night a week, “night out” for Mom. Later, classes (therapy) were intermittent with working. When I was “allowed” to quit working I began to cross-country ski and day hike, usually with my camera along.
When my husband retired, instead of moving to Arizona, we moved to a small town in Massachusetts for 2-1/2 years to work on our family genealogies. While there I found an art teacher who gave two well attended juried shows a year for her students, all the surrounding towns invited. It was here that I entered my first juried shows (other than the Puyallup Fair), had my first ribbons and first sales.
Returning to my beloved Pacific Northwest, to get painting again I started art classes and took a few workshops. I joined Mountain Valley Arts club, then Rainier League of Arts, and started showing my work in shows and at local venues.
Finally, after years of my painting, while most of my friends didn’t know I painted, I got a business license and began in earnest. Since then, I have had my work in booth shows, accepted in juried shows (with some awards and sales), had a year in a co-op gallery and have had solo shows in many local venues. So far, it has been a lot of fun and a challenge.
My oil paintings, mostly landscapes with a focus on “my mountain”, are done using mostly my own photos as reference in a detailed, realistic manner. I paint both large and miniature (2”x3”). Currently my studio is in our Bonney Lake home where I live with my husband and our three cats.
Artist Statement:
There are landscapes, mountains and more mountains! Choosing what to paint sometimes takes a while. I search through my many photographs of places I’ve been, hikes I’ve been on, viewpoints I’ve stopped at, until I find a picture, or pictures, that sparks my fancy, my memory, or my imagination, usually landscapes. Then there may be some sleepless nights when I lie in bed, eyes closed, thinking of which paintings I want to start next and how I want to do them.
When I’m ready to start, I make a rough placement sketch on the canvas, then I start to paint, using oil paints. Recently there are times I’ll paint a miniature canvas before working on a larger one. Changes occur as I paint, and many times I will repaint and repaint until satisfied. I prefer to use an indirect painting method of allowing sections to dry before adding another layer of paint, creating detailed, realistic works, usually taking months to finish.
I am striving to put more depth into my paintings, and a feeling of being there, in the scene or on top of the mountain, absorbing the view as some people absorb sunshine’s warmth. I have mostly lived in the Pacific Northwest, being able to see, and be, in the mountains, so there seems to always be another picture I want to paint