The Fairy Society

Katherine Barber, was born and raised in small town in North Texas. Her artistic journey began as a small child, and it has been a life-long obsession for her ever since. Katherine works to draw pictures that inspire emotion and awe. Absorbing all she can from nature, the internet, books, history, magazines, articles and discussions with friends and fellow artists, she is constantly working to improve her art. Through many years of sketching, painting and experimenting with new styles and mediums, she has strived to create a look and feel all her own.

    "Growing up out in the country has inspired my artwork a lot. The large wooded property near my parent's house was my childhood playground. Through my wanderings in the woods I developed a fascination with nature - in particular wild flowers and Lepidoptera -- butterflies and moths. I remember as a child I used to play games which involved using acorns as money and stirring up 'magic potions' using plants and other natural materials. Proof that I was just as quirky as a child as I am today! I've been a practicing pagan since I was thirteen years old. I guess my art has a very pagan/mythological influence, but I also get a lot of my ideas from literature, and movies that I like. My cats are another influence on my artwork. I've been in absolute love with cats since I was pretty small. We've always had at least one (or twenty) cats around. In fact my preferred nickname is 'Kat'. I'd like to be a faerie or a cat when I 'grow up'.
    I have no "formal training" to speak of other than high school art classes where I studied under the teaching of a wonderful artist named Judy Baddy. I occasionally took classes over summer vacation as a child. My mother and grandmother are both excellent artists and I grew up with a basic knowledge of art from an early age. In school I usually surpassed my peers in all my art classes... something that I was always very proud of. I was always one to go my own way, and carve my own path without much care of what other people may think. I'm a dreamer, I guess. I work primarily in pencils... in fact my favorite artistic medium is the good old No. 2 Pencil. For my colored work I prefer working in colored pencil on smooth acid-free paper such as cardstock or vellum. I also use ink and acrylic paint in combination for bold shadows and highlights. I occasionally but rarely work in watercolors."

    Katherine is perhaps best known for her artwork depicting more realistic womanly figures suggesting a "Rubenesque" influence. She hopes that her creations will appeal to 'real women' and young adults with a clear message that 'big is beautiful'.

    "Many women seem to spend too much time frowning in the mirror and thumbing through magazines, envying the beautiful lithe figures on the pages looking back at us. They then become stuck in a mindset based on popular belief and what is supposedly acceptable in society, that these women have to look this way to be successful, healthy, beautiful, and loved. I believe a woman of any size, shape, color, or background can be and have all these things and more. Beauty is on the inside, and I hope that my faeries will appeal to women of all ages and sizes."