Albert Lea artist opens new show at Art Center

Published 9:04 am Friday, September 5, 2008

More than 50 paintings of Albert Lea watercolor artist Barb Butler are on exhibit throught Sept. 30 at the Albert Lea Art Center.

In her artist’s statement, Butler said she had a secret desire to become an artist most of her life. “It has taken me a lifetime to build up the confidence and let the obsession come to fruition,” she wrote.

Butler enjoys working with both watercolor and acrylic paint.

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She said her goal is to have someone see something in a new way as the result of looking at her paintings.

“I have just begun to see the world around me with new eyes as developing my interpretation of nature,” she wrote.

“Through painting, I forget myself as I sit down to thank blank white paper and acknowledge the thrill of putting paint on the paper,” she added.

Butler is a native of Des Moines, Iowa, and has lived in Albert Lea for more than 40 years.

In August, she led “Favorite Things of Nature,” a three-day watercolor workshop at Good Earth Village Outdoor Ministry Retreat Center near Spring Valley.

Butler said the idea for the retreat came from a couple people who had taken one- or two-day workshops from her in the past. “Six of us drove over one day and saw the retreat center,” she said. “It was too good to pass up.”

Before that, she took a five-day workshop with a University of Minnesota professor. “I will go to school as long as I am able,” she said. “I just love to keep learning.”

She offers workshops to share the knowledge she has learned with others who wish to be challenged and improve their paintings through composition, patterns, shape, value and colors.

“I learn more by teaching,” she said. “It reinforces the class I’ve just taken or the book I’ve just read.

“I try not to teach techniques,” the artist said. “We say, ‘Here’s a way to paint, now put your personality to it.’ The longer you paint, the more capable you are of doing that.”

Butler began taking watercolor workshops soon after retiring from Riverland Community College. The first one was in Wisconsin. Then, she took some workshops from Frank Zeller, who became her mentor.

She’s now known for her landscapes and florals, although she dabbles in landscapes and abstracts.

Over the years, Butler has exhibited in Ames, Iowa, at the Albert Lea Art Center, in the local hospital gallery and more. Her paintings are now all over the United States. Upcoming exhibits will be in Fairmont and Sun City, Ariz.

She has taught watercolor classes in Minnesota, Iowa and Arizona, presented programs and demonstrations to various organizations and has judged area art shows. She is affiliated with the Minnesota Watercolor Society, the North Star Watercolor Society and the Palo Verde Watercolor Society.