Barbara Rush an Artist Who Knows Her Horses

Having ridden horses for most of her life, artist Barbara Rush finds deep joy in redefining these beautiful creatures in her cubist inspired paintings. She has spent plenty of time over the years running her hands over their soft coats, brushing dirt from their hocks, picking hooves, handing out carrots, learning about the beauty of the horse and all their funny little quirks. As you can imagine, as it sometimes happens, she became one of those little girls that never quite outgrew her love of the horse.

“Horses are never far from my thoughts as they are my favorite subject to paint. For every painting I create (whether it is for a commission of someone’s horse, or from my imagination), I spend hours analyzing their features, their mood, their body language…before I begin to paint.”

Barbara Rush is a very colorful and structured award winning acrylic artist. Her work has been influenced by cubist artists such as Albert Gleizes, Juan Gris, and Jean Metzinger, but her style is uniquely her own.

When creating her art she always completes the backgrounds first, using heavy bodied acrylics with impasto techniques and dry brush or glazes to finish the layers. She allows herself complete freedom in the background in contrast to the tight forms that are used to convey her subject matter. Designs of her subjects are created on paper, once they are complete, she transfers her sketches to the canvas. Merging the elegant outlines of horses, florals, or other creatures onto the loose backgrounds, they appear as if manifested from the ethers of the background.

Ms. Rush then applies colors into the heavily gridded shapes, or curves, that in the same moment break apart and hold the subject matter together. Quill brushes (not masking tape) are used to create precise lines and curves. She enjoys leaving a space between the shapes to allow the background to pass through, reminding us that although our world appears to be solid there is a life force that exists, between our molecules, creating movement within all things. Life is molded from lines and shapes, capturing the essence of its energy on the canvas.

Ms. Rush currently resides in Roswell, GA. She is originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia and was educated in fine art and graphic design. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Art from Old Dominion University (VA) and a Master’s in Advertising (Design) from Syracuse University (NY). As a practicing graphic designer, her art is heavily influenced by lines, grids, and shapes. Her love of finding shapes and forms within her subject matter is easily discernible within every painting she creates.

All in all, Ms. Rush’s unique way of connecting with her subject matter, combined with her unique style and analytical analysis of interlocking shapes, makes her paintings resonate with vitality and significance in the art world.
“The Tao of Equus Series was inspired by my love of horses and several cubist paintings on display in the High Museum of Art (Atlanta, GA) in 2006. Struck by the essence of the cubists’ accomplishment of capturing movement on paper, I was compelled to see what the structure of the horse would look like as it shifted with each position of its body. I immediately began drawing restructured horses and playing with complementary curves and angles within the form of the horse. The result is what I call GeoCubism and it is the way I have been painting since 2007.”

 – Barbara Rush

Ms. Rush’s work can be found at Synergy Fine Art in Historic Roswell, GA., and in hundreds of private collections throughout the world to include: London, Germany, England, Australia, and of course the USA:-)

 

For more information please visit www.barbararush.com

Share