Eugenia painter has her work featured at Victoria Park Gallery throughout October

Barbara Pearn of Eugenia is the guest artist at the Victoria Park Gallery for the month of October.

Originally from a farm near Mitchell, she is married and has two adult children.

While she has been painting for most of her life, she has focused more of her energy on it over the past 20 years.

“I enjoy painting local landscapes and am inspired to paint historic buildings and local farms,” she says. “I like capturing rural life in Ontario which reminds me of my own farm upbringing. Painting barns is a way of documenting the disappearing lifestyle of rural Ontario.”

Pearn started painting in watercolour but found that as she had her work displayed in various shows, it was difficult to transport frames in glass. So, she opted to focus on oil painting instead. She is also having her artwork printed on items, such as pillows and bags. Her paintings are in private collections in Canada, the United States and England.

While much of her work focuses on the rural scene, she also likes doing florals. “Once you’ve done a few barns, it’s nice to do something different for a bit,” she says.

She takes photographs of scenes and paints from them. “I like the way the lighting is a certain way, so I capture that in a photo and work from that.”

Pearn has done a number of shows, but this is her first time as a guest artist and the first time at the Victoria Park Gallery.

She got to know Sandra Florence, a member of the gallery, when she published the Art Map for Grey-Bruce. The map was an agenda of art galleries, art studios and art events.

“I included the Victoria Park Gallery on that map, and Sandra asked me to be a guest artist, and here I am,” says Pearn. Among her new works, are “After the Rain,” and “Sunset Sensibility.”

In 1998, she began ColourPix, a successful graphic design business owned by her and her husband. She is now semi-retired.

For more information about Pearn and her work, visit www.barbarapearn.com.

Victoria Park Gallery is located inside the Kincardine Arts Centre in downtown Kincardine. For more information, check the Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/pg/victoriaparkgallerykincardine/posts/