Painterly treats for all tastes
Karen Barton, Vital Farms Eggs, oil, 11 x 14.
This story was featured in the October 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art October 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
MUCH THE SAME way old Dutch still lifes of fish, fowl, and other game reflect the culinary fare of the era, Karen Barton’s vibrant portrayals of contemporary foods help tell a story about the way we live today. The Washington artist’s edible subjects range from popular snacks and candies to everyday cooking ingredients found in the pantries and refrigerators of homes across America—all captured in bright, vivacious colors for our viewing pleasure now, and for posterity. “I do think of it as a history,” Barton says of her food-inspired art. “It’s documenting the era we live in.”
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- Karen Barton, Tabasco x2, oil, 10 x 8.
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- Karen Barton, YUM YUM FUNYUNS, oil, 20 x 16.
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- Karen Barton, Tennis Anyone?, oil, 9 x 12.
Barton, a retired school teacher, has drawn and painted for most of her life. While working toward her degree in education, she minored in art, and she continued drawing and painting throughout her teaching career, honing her skills through workshops with artists like Nicholas Simmons and Robert Krogle. But her interest in food as a subject didn’t emerge until after she began painting full time. By then she had explored a variety of other subjects, but for Barton, there were no sparks. “I painted flowers early on, and I did birds, too, and I thought, ‘Mmm, not really,’” she says.
Then, after seeing a documentary about artist Gloria Vanderbilt, who painted vignettes inspired by her memories and experiences, Barton’s thoughts turned to her own warm memories of family and food, especially the treats she and her father loved to indulge in when she was a child. “I remember stashing the Sara Lee brownies under the cooler tray in our refrigerator, because if my father got there first, he’d eat them all!” she recalls, chuckling.
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- Karen Barton, Flour Power, oil, 12 x 9.
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- Karen Barton, Gone Phishing!, oil, 10 x 10.
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- Karen Barton, Irresistible Ranch Doritos, oil, 14 x 11.
Barton quickly discovered that food, in its myriad forms, presented an opportunity for endless explorations in shape, color, texture, and light. Unique packaging designs stretch her options even further, be it a carton of organic eggs, the whimsical labeling on a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, or a classic jar of Jif peanut butter. Similar to artist Wayne Thiebaud—whose iconic food paintings convey the luscious textures of cake frosting, pastries, and pies—Barton applies thick layers of oil paint in mouthwatering colors that “speak to you,” she says, describing her style as messy realism. Full of soft edges, playful smudges, and subtle smears, the artist’s works are generally small in scale. “I want them to be like a little jewel on the wall, saying, ‘Hello, here I am,’” she says. —Kim Agricola
representation
www.ugallery.com; www.thegreatpaint-in.com; www.kbartonart.com.
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- Karen Barton, Grateful Red, oil, 16 x 16.
This story was featured in the October 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art October 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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