Barbara Waterman-Peters
Painter

“I feel good when other people feel good and feel valued.”

Barbara extols the value of positivity and works to “leave the world a better place than you found it and contribute positive things in the world,” she said. “And it takes no more energy to be happy, to be pleasant to be around, to have empathy, to care about other people. It takes no more energy to do that.”

​Though Barbara often has the brightest smile in the room and is sure to welcome and engage in conversation with anyone, her paintings don’t always reflect that. “I’m able to show the bright side in my personality because I get the other part out in my work.”

As a child, when she and some others decided to write stories, hers was the only one that was sad. “The seeds were sown,” she said, and it’s developed throughout her life. When creating a women’s series in the early 1990s, Barbara started using images of bird-headed figures. She learned this was an archetype that can symbolize freedom and power – themes prominent in her series. After further studying this concept, she started to use images of crows in her work. “I think it's a beautiful bird, that sleek blackness. Crows are intelligent, they are social, they have a justice system. I think of them as messengers, guardian figures, advisors. And if you're ever mean to a crow, oh boy, that crow and all of its descendants will continue to bug you. They remember.”

One of her biggest influences is the Baroque realism painter, Caravaggio, known for his mastery of lighting and shadows. “He was a real game changer, and he broke new ground with all of that. I think the darkness, the realism – but a lot of it lost in the shadows. I just love the shadows. I just guess I'm crazy. I like shadows.”

Barbara has been painting in oils since she was 12 and got more seriously into art while in college. She’s given personal art lessons, taught college courses, owned a gallery, done creative writing and published written works. Her current concentration is on illustrations for children’s books. She also has an idea for a politically-themed painting and is eager to get going on that.

“I've got an image in my mind that's just itching to get out. It’s all part of that creative spark that comes from somewhere. We know when it's there, and we hope we can take advantage of it.”

She’ll keep creating, and from those shadows will emerge Barbara’s smiling face.

"I just love the shadows. I just guess I'm crazy. I like shadows.”

“Leave the world a better place than you found it and contribute positive things in the world.”

"It takes no more energy to be happy, to be pleasant to be around, to have empathy, to care about other people."

"If you're ever mean to a crow, oh boy, that crow and all of its descendants will continue to bug you. They remember.”

“I've got an image in my mind that's just itching to get out."

"It’s all part of that creative spark that comes from somewhere. We know when it's there, and we hope we can take advantage of it.”