Artists poring over the 2009-2010 Daniel Smith art supply catalog this fall may be green with envy — a verdant shade of viridian or chromium perhaps — after seeing Barbara Wilson’s painting on the cover.
“Travellers,” a 24-inch by 18-inch oil-on-canvas by the Bainbridge artist, was selected from more than 5,000 entries submitted from all over the world for the coveted placement.
“I’d never submitted before, but I thought I’d have a go,” she said in her pleasant British accent. Wilson submitted three of her “best works” last February to the contest, now in its seventh year.
First prize included $1,500 in artist’s materials, so now she’s “having a go” down the aisles of the Seattle-based art store. The every-artists’-dream prize has given her a little elbow room to expand.
“I’ve been able to experiment with different colors, different media, metallic paints, that sort of thing. Some are quite expensive, but you think, ‘Ah well, there’s really no risk here.’”
What hasn’t changed is Wilson’s fascination with “what happens when light reflects off a surface.” While others bemoan the end of the extended summer, Wilson can now return to shooting Seattle scenes, catching the light shimmering off the rainy streets.
“Light gives a different quality to surfaces. When we didn’t have that much rain, I’ve had to find light reflected in other forms — in interiors or off of cars.”
Tom Right, director of purchasing for Daniel Smith, said it was Wilson’s use of reflected light that caught the eye of the selection committee – a constellation of working artists and faculty from three local art institutions.
“I’ve been a fan of her work for years,” Right said. “I didn’t have a part in her selection, but when I saw that she had won, I thought, ‘Oh, I should have bought her work a long time ago.’”
More than 100,000 catalogs are mailed to artists across the planet. Judging is blind, that is, only the image, name of the painting, medium and substrate are shown to the judges. The artist’s location is not revealed. Second place went to a painting from Lubbock, Texas. Past cover artists have come from Japan, France, Colombia, and in the U.S. from New York, Florida, and, of course, the Seattle area.
The grand-prize winning painting is, astonishingly, still available for sale on her Web site (www.wilsonmurals.com). One painting that isn’t is “Pioneer Lights,” a luminous view of rain-soaked streets looking toward the leafy urban square — quintessential Seattle.
Wilson turns her eye on reflected light inside as well, and her interiors series includes a few Bainbridge locations such as Harbor Pub and the Treehouse Cafe. The Treehouse painting sold “before it was even hung” from a posting of it on Facebook, she said.
Her compositions focus on light shining off wood floors or polished tables. People, if even included in the frame, are secondary to expanses of light. Whether inside or out, Wilson uses strong contrast to accentuate what the judges termed “iridescent light.”
“My darks and lights have a wide tonal range,” she said. “I’ve had people compare my work to ‘Hoppah,’” she said, in a British interpretation of iconic American painter Edward Hopper’s name. “At the time, I’d never heard of him, but now it’s quite flattering.”
An artist who’s never heard of Hopper? Well, Hopper hailed from New England and Wilson is from old England — Norfolk, to be exact. And she attended England’s noted art academy Goldsmith College, where Hopper wasn’t exactly required study.
Wilson settled across the pond with her husband roughly 10 years ago, and it was then that she began “seriously” working on her art.
These days, her Web site distinguishes between “fine art” and “mural work,” which she does for both residential and commercial clients. She created a life-sized matador in a recent commission for a Poulsbo bistro. In the summer of 2007, she did two 60-foot by 20-foot murals for the Sussex Mural Project in New Brunswick, Canada. With the weak economy, she’s “taken a little job,” which allows her to paint on days off “guilt-free.”
Upcoming exhibits include the “Looking at Bainbridge” show at Bainbridge Arts Center in January, featuring works by three artists inspired by the island.
Preparing for the show, Wilson has turned her attention to Bainbridge scenes. If you’re having coffee at a local cafe and a woman starts taking pictures, relax — you (and the foreground table or floor) just may become immortalized.
