Quaran Team: Watercolors & Haiku

Watercolors and Haiku by Linda Kohler Barnes • Exhibit runs from August 22nd to October 14th 2022

ARTIST STATEMENT: The Covid journey has been very personal for each of us. Yet we have gone through it together and continue with questions and changes. This watercolor show uses animals to recall our experiences in a captivating way through the “Quaran Team”. Whether we have chosen to wear a mask or continue on without, it engages our minds with our unique adventures. This joyful showing begins with a moose putting on a mask, there is a flamingo heading off to Spring Break only carrying hers, a hedgehog fearful of getting swabbed, a woodpecker who gets cough shamed and then self isolates, and two zebras that meet up and  find themselves in a predicament. Plus there are 25 more watercolors along the journey and each one includes a Haiku.

Experiencing the show gives an opportunity to open conversations among friends and families about how they have felt along their journey during these challenging times. If you come alone or with others it is heart warming to see all that we have each survived.

Utah professional artist Linda Kohler Barnes works in several mediums, but chose to use watercolor and Haiku for her response on the social and pandemic scene. Each original painting delights the viewers no matter their age.

ARTIST BIO: The ability to create for a variety of surroundings so that my artwork may be placed in multiple situations, has been one of my longtime goals.  My work in a variety of media has been very enjoyable and is never boring. I have received awards and recognition for my work in most of the media I have explored.  The strengths and attributes of each media have allowed me to create and express in a manner that is appropriate for the planned use and situation.

You may have seen my tile work in the Red Butte Garden Butterfly garden benches.  Or if you have taken a child to Primary Children’s Hospital, I created a mural with help of the staffs’ children for the emergency room admission area.

I continue to create using a variety materials that are suitable to the intended setting and productive of the desired effect. I have a continuing passion to start anew, gaining flexibility and expanding to my artistic repertoire. The media in which I have worked to date include, Watercolor, Acrylic, Oil, Linocut, Woodcut, Hand-molded tile, Glazed tile, Relief tiles, Mono-print, Drawing, Letterpress, Ceramics, and Steel Sculpture. Poetry and Haiku.

I graduated from the University of Utah with a fine arts degree, began my teaching experience at the high school level, and have worked over the years with students in a number of grade levels for a number of school districts.  I recently retired after 17 years of teaching for Utah Valley University.  It’s been a wild, fun ride. I have enjoyed teaching and being creative!

The whimsical themes, bold colors of my two-dimensional works and my steel sculptures have been collected throughout Utah, the United States and beyond.