Barrie Barnett

Cocker Spaniels, pastel of dogs sitting patiently on the front porch

BARRIE BARNETT (born, 1959) In 1998, she started specializing in dogs for 15 years after she was offered a solo show of dog paintings in New York’s Upper East Side, then had two more solo shows in Palm Beach, Fl. and Carmel, Ca. “Focusing on dogs was fun,” she says, and “so was being flown all over the country to do them.” It also led to a body of commercial work creating images for gift products. Barrie became known as a top pastellist, and was invited to teach at the Pastel Society of America in New York. For a 2011 feature article on her, one of her agents said “her work in pastel is the best I’ve ever seen for a living artist. It is extraordinary.” She now works in both pastel and oils, loves both for different reasons. The choice of which to use depends on the nature of the subject and client preference. Barrie paints a variety of subjects: children, adults, and horses in addition to dogs- her prices start at $5,000 for animals and $10,000 for humans. She gets to know her subjects in person, makes a careful study, takes hundreds of photos and works with the client in choosing how best to capture that individual subject. With forty years of experience under her belt, Barrie continues to be in demand to paint family members of all kinds. After a sabbatical in New Zealand, Barrie was settled on the American West Coast, where she lived in Sonoma, CA and worked in a studio which was a converted barn. Barrie is now back on the East Coast. (represented by Dog & Horse Fine Art since 2005)