Barbara Paanakker

I am born and raised in The Netherlands. In January 2015 I became an official citizen of the United States.

Painting is a passion for me. The world around us is very colorful and bright if you look in the right direction. After always doodling around with colored pencils and markers as a kid, I started painting 16 years ago. A private teacher taught me how to put my everlasting inspirational ideas on canvas. Life has been good ever since.

I like a lot of art forms and can never take enough classes to learn something new. The 3D intrigued me and I took a ceramics class at Sara Swink and was hooked on it right away.

The clay and paint are very versatile mediums and I like to try new things stretching media as far as possible. By making a lot of mistakes and failure I come eventually to a great product.

I often get a question what inspires me to create a piece. This can be very different, for the clay sculptures it can be a dog owner with the dog on the street. Also simple lines in a tile, or even a small part in my own paintings can give an aha moment. My brain is constantly working; even in my sleep I get new ideas. Also running, what I love to do clears my mind. I am never short of inspiration.

                                                                  A collection of my work is now avalable on Etsy,

                                                                  see link on the top of this page.