Barbara Stafford

barbara_stafford@hotmail.com

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Growing up as a midwesterner, I was fascinated by the natural areas of Illinois and Minnesota: prairies, wetlands and oak forests, and the dynamic weather of summer storms and heavy winter snows. In college I studied photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago but perhaps more important, was introduced by painter friends to the works of Turner, Whistler, Sergeant, and Innes. In college, I worked as a garden designer in Chicago and eventually as a landscape architect on the east coast.

Now retired, I began painting in watercolor a few years ago taking classes mostly at the Adams County Art Council with Steve Bleinberger and Stanley Gilmore. In addition to their work, the paintings and instruction books of Lowery, Roland, Cronin, Dowden, and Dobie offer fresh inspiration.

Many thanks to the Adams County Arts Council and Wendy Heiges in particular for providing artists with this wonderful facility and for their support and encouragement to show and share our artwork. And also for the Center’s involvement with programs including the annual auction held on behalf of the Land Conservancy of Adams County, raising funds for the preservation of the beautiful rural lands of Adams County