Barbara Hack, Renewal, oil, 12 x 12.
The third in a series of works she calls Unveiling, Barbara Hack’s RENEWAL compellingly depicts a young woman emerging from a swirl of tulle, her eyes shining with quiet determination. “The series symbolizes how women are affected by and respond to challenges in the world,” she explains. “There’s never a time that you cannot change and move forward.”
Indeed, Hack’s own life has traced an inexorable path toward her now-fulfilling career as a figurative artist. Since her childhood in Grand Rapids, MI, she has been drawn to portraying human forms. “Although I had never had art classes, I would always copy the pictures from the Christmas cards my mother brought home from the office,” she recalls.
Her talents were finally nurtured at Aquinas College in her hometown, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts. They were honed further by summer study in Europe, an illustration program at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and workshops with top professionals.
A solid art-centered livelihood followed, including two years as a courtroom sketch artist for an Oklahoma TV station; 15 years as a fashion illustrator; a move to Dallas to run an art school; and private portrait commissions. But about five years ago, at a national conference of the Portrait Society of America, she expressed to another member her desire to become a full-time fine artist. “She responded, ‘If not now, when?’ That phrase has been said a million times. But it hit me. I went home, quit my job, and the rest is history.” Now, Hack’s Artistic Excellence award can be added to her history. “And how poetic that it’s a painting about renewal,” she adds.
Find Hack’s work at D Anthony Gallery, Wausau, WI, and www.barbarahack.com.
This story appeared in the December 2022/January 2023 issue of Southwest Art magazine.