I am always intrigued, and happy to answer, the questions that art students ask me when they are using me as a reference artist for their a level exam components, and in this case I am refreshed by the choices of two of my paintings chosen be a Gateway student, which echo my ethos of #allthingsconnected

My colour choice in both paintings is reflective of the bright and often red and pink-tinged skies in our Zimbabwean landscape. Apart from this being an exquisite sunrise/sunset landscape colour, pink and red are creative and vibrant colours for me personally, to express movement and emotion…

Lin Barrie, “Dancing with my sisters, Dancing with my cellphone…”, acrylic and beadwork on stretched canvas, 3 x 4 feet, is featured in Contemporary African Art website and is on display currently at the British High Commission in Harare, Zimbabwe…

Detail from the painting, lady dancers from Mozambique who joined us in the south east lowveld of Zimbabwe to take part in a Xangana dance festival (note one lady dancing clutching her cell phone..)..

And a detail here showing my beadwork, reflecting the tradition of beading in the traditional much-gathered chibabela skirts that Xangana ladies wear…these glass seed beads have been used since the days of Indian and Arab dhow trade down the east coast of Africa into the baobab country surrounding our great river systems, (such as the Save River where I first sketched these dancers).

I hope that the shape in which I have stitched the beads, flowing over the painting is giving a sense of the dance rhythm …

The inspiration behind both these artworks that my student has picked out, is that of celebrating the connectedness of the landscapes and culture of vibrant Africa. I firmly believe that ecosystems are healthy when they include culture and community and diversity of species, all things connected.

I believe in direct observation of life, whether dancers or baobabs!

My recent photo…lady dancers of Chief Mahenye’s Village, in waiting, with their chibabela beaded skirts and cowhide drums…and sneakers. I love the combination of traditional skirts, beads and wraps and streetsmart footwear and cell phones tucked safely inside the dancing clothes… a perfect reflection of embracing culture and innovation..

Sketching from life, I can absorb emotion, form and mood, and then push the emotion of my subject into further abstraction in my studio.

I feel a hopeful passion for all life, for the connectedness and balance of people and wilderness, for tolerance and equity, all things equally entwined in the web of life…

Lin Barrie, Baobab Pink I, acrylic on brown paper, 32 x 46,5

Detail; from the baobab painting , showing the abstract, expressionist/impressionist spareness; the brevity of my brushstrokes

I would hope my work has impacted the community around me in terms of allowing a celebration of tradition in a deep sense, not just as a commercial spectacle, but as a deep rooted expression of appreciation and TOLERANCE of different cultures, different society values, conservation issues and biodiversity, including the environment all around us that nurtures us as humans.

All Things Connected, always, is my mantra, and my art strives to embrace the mutual reliance of humans and ecosystems for a balanced future on this planet earth.

Sketching a baobab in the field, in the pink, I LOVE that colour as you can see….. this sketch is of the Chishakwe baobab in the Save Valley Conservancy, and is charcoal and acrylic on paper.

Charcoal and acrylic are my preferred materials to use while sketching live subjects, as acrylic dries fast… here I am sketching a baobab in the field, (I often make my own charcoal and also I will use found sticks, twigs or palm leaves as tools to apply paint onto my paper or canvas…what better way to paint a tree than with one of its own discarded twigs?!)

The immediacy of charcoal and acrylic in the field, on the go, is perfect for my needs. Mixed media and beading/collage/draping are added ways that I create artworks once I am back in the environs of my art studio.

A single piece of art can take three hours or three months…. but whether it is a sketch or a detailed beaded layered canvas, it is a culmination of moods, emotions, remembered techniques and experimental new marks, making brave marks, making safe marks. A patchwork of paintwork experience over the many, many years that I have been painting…so one could say that whether it is a “quick” sketch or a detailed oil on a huge canvas, it is the product of YEARS!