The composer Clara Schumann wrote “Why hurry over beautiful things? Why not linger and enjoy them?”
Elizabeth Barlow’s painting What Beauty is For echoes Schumann’s advice to linger. “I think beauty everywhere is a reminder to us,” Barlow says. “Pausing helps us reenter the present moment. There’s a poignancy about how each moment is our only moment.”
What Beauty is For (diptych), oil on linen, 30 x 36"
The moment itself may be poignant or heavy. The object may be a lily or a dried and crumpled leaf. There is eternity in a moment, calm amongst the chaos. Barlow’s studio is in a church in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, known for its contemplative garden. She begins her day in the studio centering herself, brewing green tea while listening to Bach or Mozart and then laying out her paints, setting up her palette and mixing her colors. When she begins painting, she places “every brushstroke with intention and integrity—a sense of authenticity. Each brushstroke can only be the best thing I can do at that moment.”
Portrait of Alice in Flowers, oil on linen, 28 x 18"
Her latest paintings will be shown from September 11 through October 22 at Andra Norris Gallery in Burlingame, California.
Among them are paintings she refers to as Portraits in Absentia. Always fascinated by portraits, she now works with clients to select objects that have meaning for them or for a loved one. She assembles them into a composition that not only has meaning but is full of memories for the subject. 
Portrait of a Marriage: Yin Yang, oil on linen, 32 x 32"
One painting, Portrait of Alice in Flowers, was commissioned by Alice’s husband to include flowers that symbolize parts of her life. She is from the Midwest where lilacs bloom profusely. Her mother had a red rose in her garden. As a flower child she wore daisies in her hair. Their sons planted hollyhocks and sunflowers when they were little boys.
Blaze, oil on linen, 24 x 16"
Together the flowers and objects in her paintings tell a story, but each is a story in itself that is celebrated for its unique beauty. She encourages us to linger “and discover the beingness of something else.” —
Andra Norris Gallery
1107 Burlingame Avenue • Burlingame, CA 94010
(650) 235-9775 • www.andranorrisgallery.com
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