About Barbara H. Greenwood
My life changed the year my fifth grade public school teacher opened a door into the world of art and art making. From that moment on, I was hooked. What started as a child's wonder has never left me — and I hope it never does.
Today I work as a full time artist and teacher from my Artzmaker Studio in Williamsburg, Michigan, creating work that spans more media than most people expect: acrylic painting, pastel, watercolor, color pencil, charcoal, gouache, etching and linocut printmaking, handmade paper, collage, embroidery thread, sewing machine thread, oil base pens, Sharpie, conté pencil, and ink.
Each material has its own personality, and I let them lead.
Rarely do I begin with a plan. It is the materials I am drawn to that elicit what will be created.
Some pieces emerge from a simple scribble across the paper. Others happen as various materials find their way around each other and are given time to settle into their home on the surface. My drawings and watercolors are more illustrative — they love to tell stories, and they come from a season of my life when I sought to work as a children's book illustrator. That storytelling instinct never went away. It just found new forms.
I think of myself as an explorer. Eclectic by nature, childlike by choice, and spiritual in ways that show up in the work whether I intend it or not. Art heals — I believe that with my whole heart, and it shapes everything I do in the studio and in the classroom. There are no mistakes in my studio. Only opportunities.
Although there have been awards and accolades along the way — and I am genuinely grateful for each one — they fall short of the joy I receive when someone chooses to add one of my pieces to their own collection, or sends a card to a friend with their own personal message written inside.
When that happens, I feel as if our souls have touched. And I am grateful.
Education
Barbara holds a Master of Arts in Art Therapy from Ursuline College, Pepper Pike, Ohio (1995) and a Bachelor of Science in Art and Design with an Education Curriculum from Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan (1976). Her continuing education spans some of the finest art institutions in the country, including Alfred University (Papermaking), the Cleveland Institute of Art (Printmaking, Drawing, and Making Your Art into a Business), Boston School for the Arts and Portland School for the Arts (Children's Book Illustration), and programs at Glen Arbor Art Center, Crooked Tree Art Center, and the Oliver Art Center.
Selected Exhibitions
Barbara's work has been accepted into juried shows and exhibitions across Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Recent highlights include:
Third Place Award, Field of Vision Juried Show, Crooked Tree Art Center, Petoskey, MI (2023) · Juried Show, Oliver Art Center, Frankfort, MI (2023) · Readers' Choice Award, Made in Michigan Juried Show, Grosse Pointe News (2022) · Best of Show, Exploring Paper Juried Show, Glen Arbor Art Center (2022) · Annual Regional Juried Art Show, Erie Museum of Art, Erie, PA (2020) · First Place Award, Euclid Art Association Annual Member Show (2019) · Solo Show, "A Scribble a Day Keeps the Doctor Away," Euclid Public Library (2018)
Her work has also been featured in numerous Art Therapy juried exhibitions at Ursuline College, Tri-C Community College, and University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, spanning from 2003 through 2017.