barbara

marcus mckenna

The world of fine art has always aroused my passion, and continues to focus my attention on excellence.  My inspiration comes from the abstract expressionism, impressionism, and the beauty of the natural world.

Painting with brush and brayer, I blend a vocabulary of provocative shapes and surface textures, allowing form and the rhythms of nature to communicate with the subconscious. 

Combining abstraction with representation, my art communicates through suggestion, inviting the viewer beyond the realm of predictability and objective analysis. My intention as an artist is to stir the senses and evoke emotion, awareness and imagination. 

I believe our lifetime journey is movement toward a collective higher consciousness, and the role of the artist should not just be to record or replicate, but to elevate. A work of art can heal, when it embodies that intention and the viewer is receptive to its energy. 

education
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting,

Rhode Island School of Design

Yale Summer School of Music and Art

exhibitions

Sausalito Fine Arts Festival, Sausalito, CA

Main St. Art Fest, Fort Worth, TX

Bayou City Fine Arts Festival, Houston, TX

Fine Arts Festival, Austin, TX

Artists Project, Chicago Art Expo, Chicago, IL

57th St. Art Fair, Chicago, IL

Lakefront Festival of the Arts, Milwaukee, WI

Art On The Square, Madison, WI

Boise Art Museum’s Art in the Park, Boise, ID

Aspen Fine Arts Festival, Aspen, CO

Vail Arts Festival, Vail, CO

Downtown Denver Art Festival, Denver, CO

Evergreen Arts Festival, Evergreen, CO

Breckenridge Art Fairs, Breckenridge, CO

Bonita Springs Arts Fest, Bonita Springs, FL

Sarasota Arts Festival, Sarasota, FL

Downtown Naples Art Festival, Naples, FL

awards

Best of Show, Boise Art Museum Art Show, Boise, Idaho, 2010

Award Of Distinction, Bonita Springs Art Festival, Bonita Springs, Florida, 2009

First Place, Printmaking, Indian Wells Arts Festival, Palm Desert, CA. 2007

First Place, 11th National Art Exhibition, Lincoln Center, Fort Collins, CO, 2002

Fine Print Merchandise Award, 12th National Art Exhibition, Fort Collins, CO, 2003

Meritorious Printmaking Award, Colorado  Fair, Pueblo, CO, 2003

First Place, Original Prints, Lines into Shapes, Art Center of Estes Park, CO, 2003

Second Place, Evergreen Fine Arts Festival, Evergreen, CO, 2003

Barbara Marcus-McKenna has never waivered from the path of a true artist. Born in Brooklyn and raised outside of New York City, her childhood experiences included countless excursions to the city’s museums and galleries. Inspiration by the modern masters--specifically the use of color and joyful shapes of Matisse, Picasso’s creative genius, and DeKooning’s expressive brushwork--were monumental in her early development as an artist.

Under the guidance of many art teachers, Barbara was accepted at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) to pursue her fine art training. During her junior year she was chosen to represent RISD as a scholarship recipient to Yale Summer School of Music and Art, again studying drawing, painting and printmaking. While at RISD she took her first trip abroad, a six-week workshop studying the ancient civilizations and culture of Peru, and witnessing the mystical Macchu Picchu.

Upon graduation in 1975, she travelled the fifty United States and chose Colorado as her new home. Colorado offered not only scenic beauty, but expansiveness of mind and new avenues to more spiritual growth.

Finding personal balance and love through complete partnership with her husband, Daniel, she truly entered a state of grace. With constant nurturing and support, they’ve travelled together, participating in national juried art shows year round for over eighteen years. 

The benefits include visits to national art institutions and, more importantly, engaging their patrons directly. Barbara’s images have been published with Bentley Publishing Group and Posters International.

Her experience includes travels to India, Greece, France, and Italy, gaining inspiration from past and present cultures and old Masters in the fine art tradition.

Arranging her own printmaking studio in 1999, Barbara Marcus-McKenna works exclusively in monotypes. For her, this is the perfect painterly expression to bring forth single images with directness, immediacy and spontaneity. Images of Tibetan bowls, Greek vessels and Reiki healing symbols emerge with allegory and mystery.

The visual impact of Barbara’s monotypes is both sensory and emotional. Combining abstraction and representation, the work carries affirmative healing intention and reawakens the pure joy of creation and imagination. Barbara’s work interlinks the rhythms of nature with mankind’s desire to connect with universal and divine sources.