I
met Barbara many years ago at
the Sunday art show along
Cabrillo Boulevard. This was her
mainstay, although she
participated in many other art
shows, including Stoneworks
Studio in Ventura, the Ventura
ArtWalk series, spring Ojai
Music Festival, Around the
Corner Gallery in Ojai, and
Lisa’s Gallery in Manhattan
Beach. We soon started painting
together in plein air —
outdoors, in natural light —
every Tuesday morning, no matter
what the weather. One time, as
we set up our painting
paraphernalia at the top of
Farren Road, overlooking Goleta
Valley, the fog rolled in, and
we couldn’t see further than
three feet. I suggested we
imagine the scene, and she
agreed, so we stayed and
painted. Too few professional
artists, which she was, have
that spontaneous attitude.
Another time when Barbara and I
were painting, she grabbed my
palette away from me. A week
later she returned it nicely
framed and told me to sell it as
an abstract. Well, one doesn’t
show just one abstract, so I
painted two companion pieces.
They both sold. I continued to
sell the companion pieces, but
never sold the original. I
admired Barbara’s
gentle persuasion.
Over
the years, we lost many of our
favorite places to paint, as
population expansion eliminated
our parking places and vistas,
but we never stopped our
routine. Okay, we did break our
routine, but that was to fly to
Portland, Maine, as a guest of
one of Barbara’s customers, to
paint there; and we also painted
Catalina and in the streets and
along the coast of Ensenada,
Mexico. We two would always
paint the same scene, but the
results looked so different that
it wasn’t unusual for a customer
to purchase both our paintings
to hang in the same room. Other
artists have joined me for
weekly paint-outs for as long as
one year, but no one was ever as
committed as Barbara.
Her
life story included growing up
in the Texas border town of El
Paso and having fun across the
border in Juarez, Mexico,
majoring in fine arts at Texas
Western College, getting married
and having three children — her
son, Gary, and two daughters,
Shelly and Kelly. Barbara also
studied art in Houston at the
Glassell School of Art and the
University of Houston while
raising her three children. Her
former husband went from having
nothing to being very wealthy,
with homes in multiple cities,
including the beach in Carmel
where even the bathroom had an
ocean view. He once designed a
prototype car that went so fast
that a comedian on the Jay Leno
show said it made his teeth
chatter when he stepped on the
gas. For her, that life didn’t
compare with being a single
artist in Santa Barbara, and
often I would ask Barbara,
“Remind me why I don’t want to
be extremely wealthy.”
Barbara loved animals. The lake
at her home in Rancho Goleta had
ducks and often something would
happen to one of the ducks or
their babies. Barbara always
took them in, filled her bathtub
with water, and nursed them back
to health. She worked with the
Santa Barbara Wildlife Care
Network to make sure she gave
the correct care to her wounded
friends. One time, a duck was
caught in the drainage pipe of
the community pond. Barbara
wouldn’t give up until she, and
the other caring neighbors who
joined her, saved that duck from
certain death. Her compassion
for wildlife was irrepressible.
Barbara was also a great
decorator and cook. Every room
in her house looked as though it
came right out of a fashionable
decorators’ magazine. When we
went shopping together, I was
always amazed at what she would
buy because she transformed the
shabby chic purchase to give her
home the flair of a French
Bistro. When she had guests and
parties, not only was the table
exquisite, but each dish was
gourmet. Christmas was so much
work for her, but when I
requested a Christmas party the
year she wanted a break from it,
she obliged.
A
few years ago, a childhood
sweetheart, Ed, showed up in her
life. I saw the fun she had of
being giddy again at our age.
Barbara took in his dog, Fancy
Pants, who became a great
companion to her and her beloved
cat, Serena. She was going for a
walk with Fancy Pants when she
suddenly died.
Barbara had so many good
qualities, which included being
trustworthy, persistent, and
reliable. She loved her children
and grandchildren and often
talked proudly about them.
Barbara requested no service
when she passed on, so her
children flew in from their
homes around the globe for a
quiet family ceremony at the
lake in Rancho Goleta that
Barbara had enjoyed so much.
Acknowledgment of a life well
lived is in order, and Barbara
lived life fully as a mother and
grandmother, a successful
artist, a good and loyal friend,
and a role model for many. Times
keep changing, and life moves
on, but I cherish all those
years of our friendship.
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