Barbara (Basia) began sketching before her first-ever day of school. Her interest in art led her to the profession of architecture in which she has enjoyed a successful career both nationally and internationally. Now she has returned to her original interest in the fine arts, painting primarily in acrylics.

Barbara divides her time between her home in Toronto and her cottage in the North Kawarthas. She is inspired to convey the beauty of rural Ontario – from the range of texture and colour, and cottage adventures, to old barns giving off their last sighs.

Although Barbara has created new buildings most of her career, in painting she is drawn to old buildings, live subjects and landscapes. In paintings of live subjects, she tries to capture not only a moment but the personalities that make her subjects unique. In her landscapes she employs a range of brushstrokes and palette knife techniques to evoke texture and a sense of time. Many paintings emerge after several versions on the same canvas, exploring techniques to best reflect the richness of the subject. The result is often revealing.