About the Artist

For Barrie Simmons Barnett, art is a family affair.  Her great grandfather is the prominent American Impressionist, Edward Simmons and her great grandmother Vesta Simmons was also a respected artist and an author. So, when young Barrie began to draw, her parents recognized both the legacy and the promise. At age 9, she began her formal art training in classical realism. By the age of 12, she had earned her first commission.  

During her 20s, she studied under leading portrait painters. For 15 years, she specialized in capturing the likeness and life spirit of scores of beloved children. As Barrie’s reputation as a pastel portraitist grew, she came to the attention of top art agencies such as Portraits South, Portraits, Inc. and The William Secord Gallery in New York. William Secord declared, “her work in pastel is the best I’ve ever seen for a living artist. It is extraordinary.” In 2001, Barrie was invited to teach at the venerated Pastel Society of America in New York. The student had become the Master.

In the 2000s, Barrie blended her love of art with her love of dogs. Her reputation as the artist to immortalize your four-legged companions quickly grew by word of mouth and through solo shows in New York City, Palm Beach, Fl. and Carmel, Ca. She was flown all over the country to paint Westminster champs and dearly beloved family pets. Her dog images have also been featured in commercial retail reproductions.

Barrie is equally adept at working in oils and charcoals, which gives her a range of mediums in which she can best capture her subject and client’s preference. Her practice now covers a wide range of subjects: children, adults, dogs, cats and horses. All of her paintings and drawings are held in private collections.