Barbara Harris

Artist's Biography

Barbara Harris is a lawyer and an artist.
She began her career teaching art in the Massachusetts public schools, teaching art history at Westfield State College and Boston University, and by drawing and painting as a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts.

Her second career as a lawyer brought her to Rhode Island where, after a federal law clerkship, she entered private practice. She lives in Providence with her husband and family, continuing to paint almost daily, while serving on many boards of organizations, most recently as the President of the Rotary Club of Providence.

Barbara Harris notes that art should engage the viewer by making a personal contact. Something that is lovely, balanced, interesting, and transcendent. She prefers to work in oil paint because its intrinsic qualities convey a vibrant personality and develop color through glazes and texture. She paints familiar scenes in an abstracted manner, either outdoors or in her studio, from novel perspectives. Her work is exhibited throughout New England. She strives to create work that imparts joy and beauty, and that engages the viewer in the mystery of an image, recognizable - yet - evocative, offering a visual pleasure that transcends simple observation and that opens the spiritual door of heightened reality.