Artist Spotlight: Edward Barker

Meet Edward Barker!

Front Porch Art Walk Spotlight
April 6

Edward Barker is a local artist who is a part of both the Nature Coast Art League and Shadow Chasers: Plein Air Artist groups.

"I was always encouraged to draw and paint by my mother who also had an artistic passion. I used many mediums in the beginning but most of my work was in acrylics I was introduced to by John Johns a neighbor and artist for the Pittsburgh Press. In the early 90’s I bought a watercolor of a house in Zoar Ohio with subtle shading and bright colors. A few months later my wife found the artist conducting a local workshop in watercolor. I signed up and was hooked. I loved the looseness, transparency, and movement of the medium. I started buying books watching artists on TV, bought tapes and DVD’s of artists I admired. Eventually I found that reading about painting wasn’t producing a change or improvement to my work so I put the books away and started to paint. Not everything worked but I learned from every painting.

I was fortunate that my job involved a lot of travel. For the first years I saw airports, factories, and hotels with little time to explore the locals, but a trip abroad woke me to the fact that I might not get back to this area again so I need to take some time to look around and smell the roses. In my travels I began to paint, watercolor being a natural for travel, and was fortunate to be able to paint in locations like Maine, California, England, and Spain.

I started painting with a plein air painting group a few years ago and was intimidated by the skill of the fellow artists. They were nonjudgmental and by talking and looking at the color they saw in the landscapes I began to change my paintings and feel better about what I was accomplishing."

Ed will be at the Hernando Beach Front Porch Art Walk on Saturday, April 6 from 10 AM - 2 PM with his colorful, coastal artwork! We hope to see you there!