BARBARA RABKIN ART
"A Life in Color"
This website started as a kind of memoir I created for my granddaughters during COVID-19.
With lots of uninterrupted time to review past work and create new,
it occurred to me that my art was a diary of my life, and something to share with my family, with friends, and with others who may find it interesting.
My works, made over many years in many places, seem to have some consistency: lots of color,
a sense of spontaneity and energy regardless of the medium - acrylics, watercolors, oils, drawings, collages, mosaics, ceramics .
What do I hope you will see? My love of creating art, my joy in observing my world, my eagerness to try new things, and, despite all that is going on in our world, my determination to keep moving forward.
To my Granddaughters:
I have been blessed to be a mother, and to be your grandmother. I have been blessed to make a mark for good on the communities where I have lived. I have been blessed with an urge to create - Artist, Crafter, Maker, Baker - finding joy in trying new means of expression.
My hope is that you will live full and meaningful lives with your eyes, mind and heart wide open, and bravely make your own true mark.
Welcome to My Life (so far) in Color.
I begin with the collection of my current works, "Painting My Way Through Covid."
Many of the works are available for purchase. Click on each image to see details.
If you wish to purchase, discuss a commission or would like more information, please contact me by email. I am not accepting online payments at this time.
"$0" means work has been sold or is not available for purchase, unless you really are interested - and then maybe I'll consider. Thanks!
PAINTING MY WAY THROUGH COVID
Facing a new reality March 2020
During this open-ended period of isolation and limited socialization imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, I can pretty much do art and not feel guilty that I need to be doing something else.
I have walked leisurely along unusually quiet streets, peering into gardens, looking across the valley, examining the sky. I have enjoyed quiet hours at home, uninterrupted, introspective.
The art created during these months is a kind of journal of my life during Covid. The joyful colors, energetic strokes and courageous detours show me that I am alive, resilient and, despite all that is going on in our world, still optimistic.
SCROLL THROUGH the following image groupings: People and Pets; Landscapes and Still Life; Abstracts and Collages.
They are a record of when I was staying in and isolating, when my dog, Maggie, and I started to venture out and look around, when I allowed my mind to fantasize, when I started to stress about Covid and/or Politics, and when I calmed down.
What's next, I wonder.
PUTTING MY LIFE TOGETHER PIECE BY PIECE
San Diego 2017
Sixteen months after my husband died, I left Panama to be close to my loving and supportive family in California.
My friend, a glass artist, invited me to join her in her spacious studio, to design and create a mosaic table. And so began my adventure as a mosaic artist in SoCal - putting my life together piece by piece.
Following are mosaic and ceramic art pieces I created after settling into my home in Carmel Valley, San Diego.