Barbara McLean, Peer Gallery

Barbara is a graduate of Sheridan College (Graphic Design) and of NSCAD University (major in Fine Art). In the fall of 2005, after three years teaching English and painting in Korea, she returned to her home near Chester Nova Scotia, re-established her studio and joined Peer Gallery. (Click to view Barbara's Gallery).

Barbara says about her work: “Although I am working less in the subtly modulated tones that characterized my paintings immediately after my return from Korea, I am striving to retain the brevity and the incisiveness that I found in eastern ink wash pieces. My goal is to combination that Asian directness with the ‘on-the-edge-of-control’ energy that characterizes German Expressionism. As I continue to concentrate on the intentionality and economy of brush stroke, colour has slipped in almost unintentionally. The two seem to go together.”

One can see a clear transition from Barbara’s nature based paintings through abstracted landscapes to work that is increasingly free from representation. It is evident that paint and paint application are becoming the true subjects of Barbara’s work.