Barbara Cooper fell in love with art at an early age.  She was an avid fan of TV charcoal artist John Gnagy, and won two poster contests in her hometown of Buffalo, NY when she was 12 and 13 years of age. 

After a long hiatus, during which she worked as a public radio producer, teacher, librarian, Realtor, journalist, and free-lance writer and editor, among other occupations, she was encouraged by friends and family to return to making art and has been thrilled to be painting, and creating in multimedia, ever since.

Barbara is grateful to have studied with a variety of artists including: Lou Currin, Bella Halsted, Lynn Peterfreund, Susan Tilton Pecora, Camille Doucet, and Deborah Rubin. 

She has exhibited her work in group shows at Hope & Feathers gallery in Amherst, the Pelham Library (Pelham MA), and Preservation Hall in Wellfleet, MA.  She has also shown her work in a solo show at Henion Bakery in Amherst, MA. Her paintings appear in private collections in Delaware, New Jersey, San Francisco and on Cape Cod.

Barbara works with various mediums, including oil and chalk pastels; water-soluble crayons and color pencils; paper and found objects collage, and watercolors. She paints primarily on Arches 140 lb. cold-press paper but also enjoys painting on Yupo (smooth synthetic surface) for its so often surprising results. 

She is inspired primarily by forms and objects found in nature, especially the juxtaposition of shapes and textures, the play of light and shadows, and the endless nuances of color and tonality. 

About her work in watercolor, Barbara says:  It is the luminosity, fluidity and wonderful unpredictability of watercolor that keep me returning to my palette and brushes eager for new challenges.