July/August News Flash:

Barbara's painting "Roaring Fork Gold" received First Place in Pastels at the 51st Annual Alpine Artists Holiday Show on July 28. Her "In High Places" entry was selected for Paint the Parks Top 100, and her entry "Timeless Walls" received honorable mention. Last but by no means least, "San Juan Shadows" was juried into the Mile High National Show.

Barbara A. Kendrick, PSC

Sometimes it takes a lifetime to find the place which is truly home.  As the daughter of a career Air Force officer, Barbara and her family travelled widely and moved frequently.  She showed a talent for art at an early age, encouraged by her mother and grandmother.  When she was a junior in high school, they arranged a meeting with Norman Rockwell.  Impressed by her innate talent, Rockwell urged her to pursue a formal degree in art.  When her mother died the following year, however, plans changed.  “At that point, everyone discouraged me from studying art in college.  At the time it was considered a hobby and a risky career choice for a woman.”  So Barbara studied adult education instead and art took a back seat in her life but not in her heart. 

Living and working in the Washington D.C. area and travelling extensively on business had advantages.  At every opportunity Barbara visited art museums, studying paintings and keeping the flame alive.  An exhibition of Thomas Moran’s work including his early field sketches of the Yellowstone and Colorado River expeditions stands out in her memory, as does an exhibition of French Impressionism.  But it was an extensive collection of California Impressionism that really had the biggest impact.  “I knew,” she said, “that I had to pursue art again.”

Leaving behind a career in non-profit management and post-graduate medical education, and inspired by the beauty of the American southwest, Barbara moved with her husband to the land which they had been hiking and exploring and learning to love for over 25 years.  “I feel that this is where I was meant to be.  I belong here and it inspires me every day,” she says of her home and studio overlooking the beautiful San Juan Mountains.  Further inspired by a plein air oil workshop with Morgan Samuel Price, excited by the discovery of pastels, and encouraged by early successes as an amateur, she began entering shows as a professional in 2007.  Since then Barbara has assembled an impressive array of awards and a New Mexico museum recently acquired one of her works for their permanent collection.

From her studio overlooking her garden and the majestic San Juan Mountains, Barbara reflects on her life and work.  “From what I have learned about Navajo culture, when you are in balance with Nature you achieve a state of beauty and harmony.  I know that my art brings me closer to Nature, and that it truly does bring balance and harmony to my life.  I feel very  fortunate, and my goal is to share some of that experience with others through my work.”

Although relatively new to the world of professional art, Barbara's work has won many awards in local, regional and national shows including Best of Show, Best Pastel in Show and numerous First Place awards. Her work is featured in many corporate collections including Alpine Bank; XTO Engery Corp.; Maxfield Peterson PC; the Stone House Restaurant; the permanent collection of Farmington, New Mexico’s Gateway Museum; and in numerous private collections.

A signature member of the Pastel Society of Colorado and an Associate Member of Women Artists of the West, she also serves on the Board of the Ouray County Arts Association.  Barbara works almost exclusively in pastels, her favorite medium, in a representational style described as "contemporary realism." Although she is basically self-taught, her work has been inspired and influenced by contemporary pastel artists such as Bruce A. Gomez, Sally Strand and Kim Lordier; by Thomas Moran and other classic Western artists of the past; and by California Impressionists Guy Rose, Edgar Payne and Arthur Grover Ryder.

Her work is represented by Around the Corner Art Gallery in Montrose, Colorado; Off the Wall 2 Gallery in Grand Junction, Colorado; Weems Fine Art in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Xanadu Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona.