Elizabeth Barlow [NRA 2008]

 

First name: Elizabeth ;
Middle name:  ;
Last name: Barlow ;

Member: Resident artist member ; 
Begin: 2008 ;
End: n/a  ;

 

Biography:

Elizabeth Barlow grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, in a house filled with art and surrounded by flower gardens. Her father was the late artist Philip Barlow, and after a detour in the performing arts, she followed his inspiration back to painting. Barlow earned her BA at the University of Utah, and Masters’ Degree from the University of Virginia. After some years living abroad, she relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she continued her arts education at UC Berkeley Extension. There she studied drawing and painting with Donald Bradford and others, earning a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate with Distinction in Visual Arts. In 2007 she studied in New York City at the Art Students League.

A contemporary still-life artist, Barlow follows a time-honored practice. She begins by making a pencil sketch of her subject on an oil-primed, custom-made linen support. She follows this with an alla prima (initial wet on wet) layer of oil paint in color. Multiple glazed layers follow, a meticulous and time-consuming process that results in works of luminosity and depth. To develop her composition she takes hundreds of photographs to use as her references, later combining them to realize the vision she is after.

In her San Francisco studio, Barlow devised an innovative approach to portraiture, her favorite genre of painting. In collaboration with her subjects, she composed arrangements of their most meaningful possessions. She documented personal items such as jewelry, favorite clothing, books, and a variety of precious keepsakes. With an intimacy more characteristic of ordinary portraiture, these still lifes exhibit a powerful presence. Although she no longer creates them, the Portraits in Absentia series was well-received and exhibited often.

With her move to the Monterey Peninsula in 2016, Barlow’s work transformed. Finding herself immersed in sea air and surrounded by forests and year-round flowers, she was inspired to take nature as her subject. In response to a commission, Barlow began to paint flowers, which led to her current series, Flora Portraits. She sees flowers as potent symbols of life force, of strength within fragility, and of the power of reemergence that lies within all living things. With the support of her daily meditation practice, she believes that painting flowers is a transformative practice that allows her to slow down, look deeply, and develop a deep reverence for all living things.

Elizabeth Barlow is represented by Andra Norris Gallery in Burlingame, CA. Her work is held in public and corporate collections including the Monterey Museum of Art; San Francisco Opera, San Francisco, CA; the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA; The Absinthe Group, San Francisco, CA; and the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Monterey, CA. She gains inspiration from artists Georgia O’Keeffe, Martha Alf, Johannes Vermeer, Claudio Bravo, and David Ligare, but her father Philip Barlow remains her most revered teacher and principal artistic influence. In 2023, her work was featured in the exhibition Flora Fauna at the Monterey Museum of Art.

 

Education

Art Students League of New York, 2007
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Visual Arts, UC Berkeley Extension, Awarded with Distinction in 2007
Master of Arts, History, University of Virginia
Bachelor of Arts, University of Utah

 

 

Upcoming Exhibitions 2025

Celebrating California Art: Recent Acquisitions
January 9 — July 20, 2025
Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA

Elizabeth Barlow & Willard Dixon
October 11 – November 7, 2025
Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA

 

Exhibitions

 

2024
“Winter Salon,” Andra Norris Burlingame, CA

”San Francisco Art Fair” (with Andra Norris Gallery), San Francisco, CA

 

2023
“Winter Salon,” Andra Norris Burlingame, CA

”Flora Borealis: Elizabeth Barlow and Susan Manchester,” Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA.

“Salon at the Triton 2023”, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA

”Flora Fauna,” Elizabeth Barlow and Susan Manchester, Monterey Museum of Art

2022
”Flora Fauna,” Elizabeth Barlow and Susan Manchester, Monterey Museum of Art
”Taking Note”, Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA
”Elevation”, Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA

2021
”Creative Women II”, Gallery Mar Carmel, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
”Realism ‘21,” Elizabeth Barlow, Lynette Cook and Willard Dixon, Andra Norris Gallery,
Burlingame, CA

2020
”LOOK”, Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA
”Creative Women”, Gallery MAR Carmel, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
“Family Traits: Philip Barlow and Elizabeth Barlow”, Phillips Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT
”Silver Lining”, Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA
”31 Women”, Whitney Modern Gallery, Los Gatos, CA

2019
”Salon at the Triton”, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA
”Big Top” , Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA
“Optimism”, Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA
Art Market San Francisco (with Andra Norris Gallery), San Francisco, CA

2018
2nd Annual Juried Exhibition, Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, Wausau, Wisconsin
”Small Works II”, Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA
40th Annual Art Auction, Juried Invitational, Crocker Museum of Art, Sacramento, CA

2017
“A BIG Exhibition of Small Art”, Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA
International Guild of Realism 12th Annual Exhibition, Winfield Gallery, Carmel, CA
“Shift”, Andra Norris Gallery (formerly Gallerie Citi), Burlingame, CA
39th Annual Art Auction, Crocker Museum of Art, Sacramento CA
“Dart for Art” Live Auction, Lymelight Foundation, San Mateo Convention Center, CA

2016
“Insiders”, Gallerie Citi, Burlingame, CA
“Miniatures 2016”, Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey CA
“Summer National Exhibition”, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Marin MOCA, Novato, CA
“Salon at the Triton”, Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA
“More Than Your Selfie”, New Museum Los Gatos, Los Gatos, CA

2015
Art Silicon Valley/SF, International Art Fair, San Mateo Convention Center, CA
“Real”, Elizabeth Barlow & Willard Dixon, Gallerie Citi, Burlingame, CA
Centennial Art Show, Metropolitan Club, San Francisco, CA
“Awaken”, Gallerie Citi, Burlingame, CA

2014
Art Silicon Valley/SF, International Art Fair, San Francisco, CA
Wilkes Bashford (Andra Norris Gallery), San Francisco, CA

2013
“Miniatures and More”, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, NM
“Still-Life Invitational 2013”, Elliot Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA
“Storytellers”, Gallerie Citi, Burlingame, CA
22nd Annual National Exhibition, Oil Painters of America, InSight Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX
“Face Yourself”, Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA

2012
“Introduction One”, Gallerie Citi, Burlingame, CA
Annual Still Life Invitational, Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA
18th Annual Texas National Exhibition, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX
”Expressions West”, 2012 Annual Exhibition, Coos Art Museum, Oregon

2011
Statewide Painting Exhibition, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA
28th Annual Exhibition, Berkeley Art Center’s, Berkeley, CA
87th Annual Spring Salon, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, UT

2010
“A Family Affair: Philip Barlow and Elizabeth Barlow”, District Art Gallery, Park City, UT

2009
“Double Take: A Father and Daughter Explore the Still Life”, Iron Horse Gallery, Park City, UT

2008
Marin County Fair Juried Exhibition, sponsored by Marin County Arts Council

2007
“Arcadia: Artists Celebrate Trees”, San Francisco, CA
“Romancing The Figure” Exhibition, San Anselmo, CA
UC Berkeley Extension Art Studio Exhibition, SOMA Campus, San Francisco, CA

2004
“Evening In The Garden”, Red Butte Gardens, University of Utah, UT

2003
“Elizabeth Barlow and Elizabeth Fracchia”, Canessa Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“Arcadia: Artists Celebrate Trees”, SOMARTS, San Francisco, CA

2002
Elizabeth Barlow New Paintings, Café Francisco, San Francisco, CA

1999
Elizabeth Barlow New Works on Paper, University of California, San Francisco

 

 

Awards

Honorable Mention, Salon at the Triton 2019, Santa Clara, CA, juror George Rivera
2nd Place Award, American Art Awards 2016
Finalist, The Artist’s Magazine 33rd Annual Art Competition, 2016
2nd Place award, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Summer National Exhibition, juror Brian Gross, 2016
Finalist, The Artist’s Magazine 32nd Annual Art Competition, 2015
Finalist, ArtKudos 2015
Finalist, The Artist’s Magazine, 31st Annual Art Competition, 2014
Finalist, ArtKudos 2014
Finalist, The Artist’s Magazine, 30th Annual Art Competition, 2013
2nd Place Award, 18th Texas National Exhibition 2012, Stephen F Austin State University, juror David Hickey
3rd Place Award, Expressions West Exhibition 2012, Coos Art Museum, Oregon
2nd Place Award, Triton Museum Statewide Exhibition 2011, Santa Clara, CA
Honorable Mention Award Winner, Southwest Art Magazine’s Artistic Excellence Competition, December, 2011
Merit Award, “Romancing The Figure” Juried Exhibition, Artisans Gallery, San Anselmo, CA, February 2007

 

 

https://www.elizabethbarlowart.com/

 

Artworks: