Born 1954, Bob Barker is a self-taught professional artist who now lives at Eccleshill, where he has his studio.
Bob traces back his love of painting to an oil painting set given to him for his 12th birthday. He says of this time:
A couple of years on when my mother realised this painting lark wasn’t just a fad or phase I was going through, she allowed me to join the local art club in the Yorkshire town of Farsley. They wanted to see what I had been up to (painting wise) and asked me to take some pieces in for review.
Being the youngest of four boys my two older brothers artistic efforts always looked better than mine. David, who was one up from me, signed his work DB, so I nicked his drawings of snnaglepuss and Yogi Bear and altered the DB to RB and passed it off as mine, thus, being accepted into the art club. To this day he reminds me that this appropriation of his work played a large part in me becoming an artist, (wishful thinking on his part).
‘Found Love’.
His brother, Colin, championed his art and accompanied him to exhibitions and fairs across the country, encouraging art dealers to view Bob’s work. Eventually this effort paid off and Bob’s work is now exhibited and from his own studio in Stony Lane, Eccleshill.
His narrative art work is inspired by local scenes and local people:
Where I live it is impossible to walk a dozen yards from home without seeing old weaver’s cottages, cotton and wool mills, Yorkshire stone flags or cobbled streets that have been there for decades, settling in and maturing, watching the landscape change around them.
‘Field of Dreams’
Bob describes his working methods:
I have always used glazes in my work, these are thin washes of paint which allow the underlying image to show through but recently I have been taking this technique much further by applying a thicker layer as the under painting and leaving the brush strokes visible.
After this layer has dried I reinforce the lights and darks within the piece before starting the glazing process this creates a more painterly look to the work. It gives a looser fresher quality to the whole piece.
Although this technique is like painting the whole picture twice, I absolutely love the finished effect. It is this continual evolvement of my work and how paint is applied, that rejuvenates me as an artist.
‘Forty Winks’
See a short film about Bob Barker’s artwork: Film
Artist’s Website: Bob Barker
(All images shown here by courtesy of the artist).