The painting shown right is a recent one (Jan 2026): I enjoyed exploring our beautiful area around Winchcombe in Gloucestershire during sunny, frosty weather recently. Here’s one of my favourite subjects: the bridge in Castle Street, looking up towards the town centre buildings. I liked the contrast of the warm Cotswold stone in morning light against the cold blues of the sky and frost, and I wanted the sharp angles of the buildings to reflect the sharp cold of the weather.
Colour! Cotswolds!
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Find me on Instagram: #barbarabluecotswolds
Gallery Information @Sixteen Online
E-mail me: barbara.i.curry@googlemail.com
Above (top) is a 20” square painting I finished in May 2025, responding to a very early morning outing, with the low sun catching dandelion heads and giving them little haloes. I love sharing happy moments like this. I get up early, so you don’t have to!
Below it, (closest) is a large painting (36” square) celebrating the bleached post-harvest colours of stubble and wild flowers in the Sudeley valley close to Winchcombe. This painting was favoured with the most heart-shaped stickers for “favourite painting” in my last show at Sixteen Gallery in Cheltenham! Still available……
Right: another new painting shown for the first time last summer. A summer walk with a friend, among waving and ripening barley, was such a delight that I had to record it in oils. It’s 24” square. I really enjoyed creating the textures of the waving, golden crop.
My paintings have been described as “vibrant, affectionate and joyful”. I live in the Cotswolds and I paint from the heart: my love of colour and the moods of changing seasons inspire me. I am proud to have trained at the Norfolk Painting School, where I achieved a Diploma in 2021. I paint in oils because I love their feel and versatility. I enjoy mark-making using tools in addition to brushes, and I also experiment with collage and abstraction.
News 2025-6
A description of my painting process was shown on PaintersOnline in November ‘23. I’m a prizewinner at Broadway Festival of Arts (2022) and have been a Finalist at Bath Open.
I was chosen by the Editor of Leisure Painter magazine for “Painting of the Month”, which was featured, together with an article, in the December edition ‘23.
In 2025, I had a surprise call from the e-magazine, Art Focus, who wanted to award me their annual trophy for “Excellence in Landscape Painting” and to feature my work in a two-page article.
My Open Studio event with Cheltenham Open Studios in June 2025, was a great success, with over 100 visitors during the week, lots of interest and some pleasing sales.
Look for me on Sixteen Gallery Online: I’m featured on their site. I presented my fourth solo show there, from July 30th - Aug 5th this year with over 200 visitors and good sales that week. I was represented in their Collective Exhibition in Jan 26 and I’ll be there with another solo show in 2027, from September 16th-22nd. Sixteen is on Montpellier Street. Cheltenham, Glos, a beautiful shopping and cafe area with other galleries close by. Come and say hello!
