Françoise Barnes

One of my main sources of inspiration lies in the awesomeness of nature, especially seen and observed from very close: my eyes are always on the move, finding excitement from the lacy details of a dragonfly‘s wing to the dots, flecks, specks, the artful unevenness of stripes and marks found in some plants, flowers, insects or animals. Also, I have always had a profound love and admiration for the awesome art of indigenous cultures whether here or far away and these have had a substantial impact as well. Finally, my former work as a contemporary art quilt maker in the 70's and 80's is also certainly not far in the background.

Born and educated in France, Françoise Barnes has been drawing and painting all her life. She is largely self-taught, but, after coming to the United States in the 1960's, she took drawing and painting classes at Ohio University and later, in the 80's, she also studied with the artist Murray Stern. Meanwhile, in the mid 70's she discovered quilts, at the time when America had started to look at quilts not only as bed covers, but also as a contemporary art form, unconstrained by tradition. This became a passion for her, and for the next 20 years she exhibited her art quilts, taught, juried and lectured in the US and abroad. In 1979, Barnes co-founded Quilt National, a biennial exhibition which has since become arguably the most prestigious art quilt exhibition in the world. Her art quilts are in many private and corporate collections such as General Electric, Aetna, Delaware Art Museum (purchase), Ohio Arts Council Permanent Collection, etc. She has been painting for the last 30 years and her paintings can be found in many private collections.

2-D, Collage/Mixed Media, Painting (all materials)