Barbara Bowen is a contemporary mixed-media artist who is known for the rich complex surfaces she creates using innovative techniques. She develops foundations for her artworks by experimenting with visual and physical texture, acrylic mediums, color, and depth. Combining original papers and paint, she layers and scrapes, excavating and sculpting her artwork into being, much as nature shapes the land.

Her visual vocabulary is influenced by the rugged terrains of the west—vast skies, dramatic land formations, layered forests, interlaced with waterways. Intricate forms in nature fascinate Barbara, and the challenge of abstraction inspires her creative pathways. Barbara responds intuitively to each image as it unfolds.

Originally from Washington D.C., Barbara has lived in and explored the Pacific Northwest for 30+ years. She has created communities through facilitating workshops, collaborating with art colleagues, leading public art projects, and contributing to art books/exhibit catalogs.

Barbara holds a degree in Art History from the University of Maryland and currently works full time in her studio on Bainbridge Island in Washington State.