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Q: What is your earliest memory of wanting to be an artist? (Question from...
A charcoal self-portrait circa 1988 when I was a Navy Lieutenant A: I don’t believe I have any such ‘early memories.’ I came to art late and my journey to becoming an artist was circuitous, to say the...
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Q: How does art help you explore and understand other cultures? (Question...
Shadow self-portrait, Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India A: Art helps me explore and understand other cultures by revealing our shared humanity across space and time. For me art and travel are intertwined;...
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Q: When did you decide and what prompted you to become an artist? (Question...
Naval Officer Candidate Barbara Rachko, circa 1983 A: In the mid-1980s I was a thirty-three-year-old Navy lieutenant, working a soul-crushing job as a computer analyst on the midnight shift in a...
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Pearls from artists* # 494
Shamans, Tiwanaku, Bolivia *an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on. Emile Cartailhac...
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Q: What’s on the easel today?
Preliminary charcoal drawing “Schemer,” Soft Pastel on Sandpaper, 26” x 20,” Unframed A: Here is a preliminary charcoal drawing in preparation for my next ”Bolivianos” pastel painting. With the most...
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Pearls from artists* #571
The Studio *an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on. To put it simply, but accurately,...
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Q: How do you get such fine detail with soft pastel? Do they make pencil-size...
“Sam and Bobo,”soft pastel on sandpaper, 36″ x 31”, 1989 A: After 37 years as a pastel artist, I have learned all sorts of techniques and can do whatever I want with it. I used regular Rembrandt white...
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Pearls from artists* # 597
Barbara’s Studio *an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on. From earliest childhood, the...
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Q: What’s on the easel today?
A: This is a preliminary charcoal drawing for my next “Bolivianos” painting. Comments are welcome!
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Q: When did you begin drawing and painting? (Question from “Cultured Focus...
In the studio A: This is a long story because my path to becoming a professional artist has been unusually circuitous. I grew up in a blue collar family in suburban New Jersey. My parents were both...
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Q: Did you formally study art? (Question from “Cultured Focus Magazine”)
International Center of Photography website A: My bachelor’s degree in Psychology is from the University of Vermont. I did not formally study art, unless you want to count the several years-worth of...
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