Barbara Newcomb

Barbara was born in Arlington, Virginia and educated in the USA. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree with Distinction from Syracuse University in New York, Barbara came to the U.K. She immediately fell in love with England, declaring it to be the most beautiful country in the world.

From then on and despite her travels to Europe and the far east, she has concentrated, in her landscape work, on capturing the unique character of the English countryside.

Although trained as a painter and illustrator, once she discovered the versatility and flexibility of etching, she began to work exclusively as a print maker in this medium. Having trained at the Central School (later Central St. Martin’s) in London, under Tony Harrison, Barbara then went to work with the 20th Century’s most famous print maker, Bill Hayter at his studio in Paris, the celebrated Atelier 17.

Barbara returned to London in the late 1960’s and her work quickly gained recognition. She was taken up by many of the newest galleries and agents dealing in limited editions of contemporary prints.

In 1989 Barbara began making monoprints (single prints rather than editions). The subjects were mainly seascapes, flowers and landscapes and only a few of these remain. However, Barbara is always searching for the subjects that will reflect her deep involvement with the energy that we find in all of life: the movement of the clouds and sea and grasses, the rhythm and grace of Fred Astaire’s dancing and the commitment and drive of the athlete and the sports – person.

Since 2009, working in monoprint, Barbara has revisited an interest which she had explored in her etchings in the early 1970’s – the athlete.