Laurie Barna is a native northern Californian who grew up enjoying drawing as a hobby.  She took several art and drawing courses in college while pursuing a professional nursing degree.  Her 32-year career as a pediatric RN and NP was both challenging and rewarding, yet she longed for a creative outlet.

 

Laurie eagerly began painting with watercolor in late 1999 and since then, has taken workshops with a number of local and nationally-recognized artists.  She develops each body of her work based on a strong central content.  People are moved by her devotion to that content, while attracted by both the beauty and integrity of her images.  Since 2006, the Liberty Series has become her passion.  Over a four-year period, she painted the Statue of Liberty as a still life in series more than 100 times.  The series has had wide viewer appeal in six local solo exhibitions, and individual paintings have garnered awards in local, regional and national juried shows.  In 2011, she began painting an Angel Series, which has allowed her to explore spiritual content, as well as try new techniques in designing her paintings.  In 2012 and 2013, experiments with collage and torn magazine pages collaged onto canvas proved to be both fun and successful.

 

“Whether it’s a figure, a portrait, a landscape, or a still life, I strive to create what inspires and encourages me, and what I hope will engage the viewer.”

 

Her latest creation is her first book, The Liberty Series:  For the Love of Liberty, which was released in March 2014 and is available through www.amazon.com.  She is now an author, as well as an award-winning artist.

 

Awards:

Third Place, Mixed Media; University Art, Regional Juried Show, October 2015

Honorable Mention, Dry Media; Los Gatos Art Association, Fall Member Juried Show, 2013

Second Place, Mixed Media; University Art, Regional Juried Show, August 2013

First Place, Water Media; Los Gatos Art Association, Spring Member Juried Show, 2013

Award of Excellence; North Valley Art League, Annual National Juried Show, January 2012