Biography of barbara j. daley

"Making art is both a way of perceiving this world, and also a way of honouring it," - paraphrasing poet, Mary Oliver.

Barbara J. Daley feels inspiration is everywhere. The Persian poets, Rumi, Kabir and Hafiz, the Zen poets, and contemporary writers such as Jane Hirschfield, Mary Oliver, and Leonard Cohen, all speak of the call to be creative.

“Eyes on India: A Photographic Journey,” was Barbara’s first solo exhibit, hosted enthusiastically by Peace Gallery North in 2007. This wildly successful month-long show unexpectedly followed a 50th birthday trek across Northern India.

Upon her return from India, Barbara sought out the incomparable Laine Dahlen as an art teacher, and through him studied illustration and expressive line, media development and graphic design. She also made friends with other art students, on both sides of the Peace River. Through the Flying Colours Artists’ Association she has learned from diverse artists Grant Fuller, Elizabeth Harris-Nichols, Teressa Bernard, Mareth Warren, Dianne Bersea and Graham Flatt.

The Peace Printmakers Guild members have recently lured Barbara under their influence to carve lino blocks and print unique motifs. She makes a yearly pilgrimage to the Maiwa Textile Workshops on Granville Island to learn about silk resist dying techniques and painting on un-stretched canvas.In addition, Alberta artist Carrie Klukas, introduced her to encaustic painting.

Barbara regularly participates in the Peace Liard Regional Juried Art Exhibit, acting as local Host Coordinator in 2008. She also designed an innovative tour program for students of all ages, allowing them to enhance their exhibit tour experience, led by Barbara and other artists, through a customized Art Journaling tool. The Fort St. John Public Library co-presented an art history presentation to complement the experience.

Invitations followed for Barbara to visit various classrooms and customize creative workshops for students who had seen the tour. She presented on Art Journaling to The Young Writer’s Workshop, known as Word Weavers.

Barbara’s oil pastel sunflowers were selected to be part of the Permanent Collection of the Peace Liard Regional Art’s Council.

Hoarding art supplies and books in her top floor home studio, Barbara has finally honed an organizational system based on the Chaos Theory.

Through the practice of keeping an art journal, Barbara is presently sketching and painting daily. This allows her to experiment with photography, sketching, water media, acrylic media, oil pastels, collage and mixtures of these. In this way, she processes life as it happens, day-by-day, wherever it happens. She is often found traveling the northern district with her best friend and husband of almost 30 years, Brian. They have three grown sons, each a favourite creative collaboration.