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Joseph Leonard Barnes

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Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Joseph Leonard Barnes grew up in

the suburbs of both Maryland and Virginia on the outskirts of

Washington, D.C. He received a BS degree from the

University of Maryland, College Park and a BFA from The

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters at Florida

Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida.

Joe moved to Western North Carolina in 1996 where he and

His wife Barbara make their home in the Village of Blowing

Rock next door to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Joe started drawing when just a toddler. By the age of five he was creating cartoons and storyboards with crayons and colored pencils. In his early teens friends and teachers were calling him another Mort Walker or Walt Disney. While working for a national computer company, he also became an accomplished free-lance editorial cartoonist and illustrator. From the 70's into the mid 90's Joe published extensively in several monthly and weekly newspapers. He was also commissioned during this period to produced over twenty portrait/caricatures for clients from Virginia, Minnesota and Florida.

Joe's early painting career was dedicated almost exclusively to oil paints; mostly figure, portrait and still life. At FAU he studied under Walter Hynatish, whose large light-filled still life canvas menageries influenced Joe’s early painting style and established a preference for oil paints.

"My early experience with writing and drawing for newspapers, attracted me to the style of early American Realist Painters like Robert Henri, John Sloan, George Luks, Everett Shinn and William Glackens – "The Ash-Can Eight".

Joseph Leonard Barnes

Living in the majestic Appalachian Mountains has dramatically changed Joe's painting style and technique. Not only has the exquisite scenery of the High Country influenced the subject matter of his work, Joe has also discovered the world of watercolors. In 2004, he began to adapt his unique style of painting to watercolor. He now paints landscapes with watercolors almost exclusively. According to Joe, "Watercolor is a natural medium for conveying the beauty of the High Country landscape." Joe fills his landscapes with the rich grandeur of nature that surrounds his home and studio. His paintings span the spectrum of lofty majestic Appalachian Mountains to the quiet solitude of a tiny wild flower on the floor of the forest. His paintings often deal with the striking beauty of an old barn, the serenity of a bubbling creek, the stunning colors of a fall day, and the tranquility of a small mountain village.

Joe is a member of the Watauga County Arts Council, Watercolor Society of North Carolina and the High Country Watermedia Society.

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