ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Barby Schacher | Western Art Pastel Artist
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Equestrian Art, Western Art & Wildlife Art
Barby Schacher is a pastel artist who specializes in Western Art and Wildlife Art. Most of the inspiration for her artwork comes from growing up on a small cattle ranch and living in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with its gorgeous, wild scenery and abundant wildlife.
Today, she primarily paints what she is most familiar with from those “early years” such as cattle, North American wildlife, and especially horses.
The Horses
Horses were a constant and very impressionable part of her childhood back on the family ranch overlooking the beautiful Clearwater River Valley and picturesque Kamiah, Idaho. When she wasn’t riding horses, she was sketching them or dreaming about them during school classes, which landed her a few scolding’s from her teachers!
The horses she and her siblings (along with many friends and “town kids”) rode were primarily ranch horses. They were trained by her dad and were trustworthy and dependable. He used the horses to herd cattle and to pack into the surrounding mountains to fish in the area’s pristine mountain lakes and during hunting season. As a result, the horses had to be rock solid, sure-footed, safe, and absolutely dependable, as well as “kid proof”.
They were also used for 4-H and in the arena to compete in local gymkhanas and area rodeos, which was the absolute “highlight” of Barby’s early years. Unfortunately, her parents would divorce, though, and the ranch, horses and the cattle were eventually sold. Her family moved to town just before high school. Life had drastically changed and would take many twists and turns over the next several years. It would be decades before Barby would ride or take up artwork once again.
Experience, Accomplishments and Awards
Eventually, in 2012, Barby started creating art once again, though. First with graphite and a few years later with pastels. In 2015 and 2016, she was honored to have two of her graphite drawings published, one as a Featured Artist in Artsy Shark and the other in Strokes of Genius: The Best of Drawing.
In 2019, she was awarded the 2019 WARA Championship Belt Buckle in the Dry Medium category of the Western Art Rodeo Association competition.
She has also received awards for her pastel paintings such as the McCalla Award for People’s Choice at the 2020 Mountain Oyster Club 51st Anniversary Western Art Show, the Art of the West Award at the 2021 Women Artists of the West 51st National Exhibition, and the Publisher’s Award of Excellence – from Western Art Collector magazine during the 2022 APA – American Plains Artists Annual Juried Exhibit & Sale.
Creative Process
The FUN part! Drawing has always been a passion… as enjoyable a part of life as riding horses… for Barby. She is basically a “self-taught” artist having no formal training. Instead, in addition to what she feels is a God-given talent, she’s developed her own artistic style through hours of practice, lots of “trial and error” and by observing and experimenting with the techniques of other artists that she admires.
Growing up with horses and cattle allowed Barby to become extremely familiar with their anatomy, characteristics, and their unique personalities… and, YES, they each definitely have their own, unique personality! That early experience is what enables her to paint them very detailed and accurately, capturing emotions like the curiosity of a baby calf or the love and bonding between a mare and her newborn filly in her pastel paintings today.
Barby meticulously creates her pastel paintings in layers using very sharp pastel pencils which enables her to paint very detailed, realistic pastel paintings. She also uses crystal clear reference photos as a guide for her artwork often chosen because of the wonderful and challenging detail that she loves to recreate. Another top consideration for choosing reference photos is the amount of contrast between the light and dark areas in the piece that can add so much drama or interest to a finished pastel painting.
In addition, for Barby, the combinations of colors that she feels complement each other in ways that create an overall eye-pleasing pastel painting are very important. And last but certainly not least, creating artwork that has special meaning (whether personal or in general) and art pieces that have a “story-to-tell” are her personal favorites!
Art Association Memberships
Barby is a member of CGA – Cowgirl Artists of America – Signature Member, WAOW – Women Artists of the West – Associate Member, and APA – American Plains Artists – Associate Member.[/content_box][spacer height=”20″][content_box type=”without-header”]
Artist Statement – click here
Artist Portfolio – click here
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Barb’s Western Art
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- 6071 Bead Lake Rd.
- Newport, WA 99156
- Ph: (509) 671-2606
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