The Artist

C.C. Barton is an award winning artist who works in printmaking and painting, as well as graphite. Her primary interest is in expressing the essence of a particular form. Whether the subject is botanical, animal, or architectural, she strives for balance, grace and simplicity in the finished piece. She is a writer as well, and has included thoughtfully crafted poetry and prose as a companion to some of her images, allowing the viewer an experience of deeper emotional texture. She is represented by galleries in the west, southwest and eastern United States, and her work hangs in private and corporate collections both at home and abroad.

The drawings of Dürer. The paintings of Caravaggio, John Singer Sargent, Thomas Hart Benton & Edward Hopper. The architecture of Frank Gehry & Santiago Calatrava. Pablo Neruda's Odes. So many poets. Hemmingway. Wallace Stegner. Plato's Symposium. Mozart. The influence of the masters is immeasurable.

Early exposure to contrasts: the clean-swept and rolling Midwestern landscapes juxtaposed against the hard vertical edges of the Rocky Mountains. Mother, passionate for the visual ~ father, passionate for words. Enchantment with the interrelation of the visual image and the written word.

Primarily looks to the natural world for inspiration. Predominately representational work, subtle abstraction, high contrast, negative space, distinctive style. Elements distilled to the prime essentials of composition, value and contrast. Experimental within a context of realism and visual readability. Oftentimes incorporating original singular and relevant prose as a companion to a visual piece.

"My great interest and joy is to explore the impact and the mystery of line, color, light, negative space and shadow in order to coax a sense of spirit onto the paper. It is not my intent to depict total realism in my images, but rather to find a way to portray the singular essence and attitude of each thing I draw or paint."