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Artistic Movement
Written By: Deena Bouknight | Issue: July - 2022
Barbara Jamison’s late blossoming as an artist is the creative flowering of a lifetime of experiences and observations.
Barbara Jamison is a late bloomer – to art, that is. Yet her compilation of 16 years’ work in liquified acrylics conveys a lifetime of innate talent and carefully honed skills. Born in Rye, New York, Jamison received an undergraduate degree and an MBA before entering, full board, the corporate world. She worked in New York City, Rome, and then London, where she met her husband, Jim, and became vice president of marketing for American Express in Europe. It was while traveling and “soaking in all of the inspiration” of art and sculpture that an artistic passion formed. She eventually hung up her business attire, moved with her family to Charlotte, and concentrated on raising their two boys. The family pur-chased a vacation log home in Cashiers and it was there, and in Charlotte, that Jamison seriously attended to her artistic side. “I started out with oils and then began experimenting with different mediums, gravitating to acrylics. My art began to flourish with the acrylics.”She sought instruction with an acclaimed artist in Santa Fe, New Mexico, who helped her “understand how to manipulate acrylics – to make the work distinct.” Currently, her style involves mixing specific paints in ketchup bottles, placing a canvas bathed in water on a flat surface, and then “floating” the paints. She explained, “I want the paints to be free to move. Being that the paints are sitting on top of the water, I am able to push them with a palette knife or blow them with a straw or even take a butane torch to them to create a bubble effect. I want to create motion.”Jamison and her family became full-time Cashiers residents three years ago, purchasing a home but maintaining the log home as her studio. Her large body of work, all established just since she turned 50 years old (she’s now 66), sells at various gal-leries and directly to individuals as well as through Instagram and Facebook. A main subject focus is florals, but she also paints landscapes and more. “I am reflecting the raw, organic power of nature.”Barbara has just recently been appointed to the board of The Bascom. Her website is BarbaraJamisonPaintings.com.
by Deena Bouknight
