Barbara G. Engel {Oil on Canvas​}

About Barbara Engel

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Biography

 

I never thought I was an artist growing up. My High School art teacher planted the thought in my head on day when she said to me, "Have you ever considered a career in art?" One Bachelor of Fine Art in Medical Illustration later, I was discovering that it was very hard to pay student loans on minimum wage and the odd commision.

 

I went on to achieve a Masters in Computer Science but my passion for art has never wavered. I started pursuing painting on January 15, 2015 after a relative told me that I was doing myself a disservice by not making artwork.

 

Artists Statement

I use my art as therapy. Whatever comes out of my head gets stuck on canvas. I cannot figure people out at all, so people are frequently my subject matter. I have a vague hope that my canvases with trigger the story telling impulse people have but who knows if I will ever achieve that goal? In the meantime, I strive to better my paintings and seek out critical criticism where ever I can find a good eye.

 

On being Synesthetic

There is someing different about my eyes or my brain where I see color differently from other people. I can see colors like "rusty-green" and "dark yellowish-blue". As a friend says, "I smell color." I also have a tendancy to hear shapes in music and make three dimensional models in my head of things such as software. When I program I move the model I created around like Tony Stark's haptic interface. Perhaps, I am just odd.