In the last few years I have started to accept and appreciate God’s gift to me. Painting has become an exercise in letting go and in perseverance, using trial and error, different techniques and a variety of subjects. I love painting! And I love drawing figures.

There is something fascinating about drawing or painting figures. A few simple lines suddenly become a person or a crowd of people, who instantly determine the perspective in a painting. To the observer they provide a way to ‘enter in’, to become one of the figures is an invitation to experience a painting in a new way. I find this especially significant with illustrations of stories from the Bible. One gets drawn into the story and becomes part of it.

That way I can be with the people watching Lazarus walk out of the grave or seeing Jairus’ daughter come to life again or I can ask myself: how would I feel if the unclean woman would appear in the crowd next to me, desperate for healing? This is why I love painting: it takes me to places I can’t go to otherwise. – Barbara Februar, Vancouver, BC.

www.barbarafebruar.com