By Victoria White
A&E Editor
From 7-9 p.m. on Jan. 21, Rachelle Barnett hosted her “American Tour” art exhibit at Viridian Coffee House. Barnett is a local artist whose primary medium is oil painting, and the exhibit showcased her work through both paintings and the photographs that inspired them.
Barnett was born and raised in Indiana, where she earned her BFA in Industrial Design from Purdue University. She has spent the better part of nine years in Lawton.
Barnett is inspired by her life in the Midwest, which is particularly apparent in her work like “Mount.
Granite,” directly inspired by Lawton’s own Mt. Scott.
Cameron University History graduate Blakeleigh Wells particularly enjoyed this piece.
“The enhanced perspective seemed recognizable and yet still abstract,” Wells said, “leaving the viewer with a sense of familiarity and curiosity.”
Barnett also takes inspiration from other parts of the country, like her works “Dumbo Brooklyn”
and “Empire Views,” which capture New York City. Renowned artists like Georgia O’Keefe, Norman Rockwell, Maxfield Parrish and Vincent Van Gogh all inspire Barnett’s process.
Like O’Keefe before her, Barnett uses her photography as a tool to enhance her art. Throughout the exhibit, photographs hung next to the paintings they inspired.
“I think it’s nice to see the photo and the finished project together,” Barnett said. “I think that’s something I want to keep doing.”
In total, the process for one of Barnett’s paintings takes on average 10-20 hours.
On top of working and being a parent, Barnett had to develop a process that works for her in order to optimize her time.
“The chaos feeds the structure and the structure feeds the chaos,” Barnett said.
She often creates bases for multiple paintings at one time. She then strategically structures her time so she may later go into her workspace, put on some music (sometimes jazz and soul, sometimes E.D.M. and heavy metal) and focus on adding the fine details.
Barnett encouraged other artists to find the method that works best for them, too. To offer advice for Cameron art students, Barnett urged students to use what may seem like monotonous assignments as tools for their craft.
“You’re doing these school projects,” Barnett said, “but you’re learning these skills that you can take into whatever feeds your passion.”
For Barnett, it’s all about finding ways to feed energy and drive. Even students with minimal time and space can effectively do this.
“When I went to college, that’s definitely when I learned how to be crafty,” Barnett said.
She recommended creating a designated space, no matter how small, to nourish creativity.
The pieces showcased in “American Tour” challenged Barnett creatively. She applied techniques out of her comfort zone like pointillism for her New York-inspired pieces. For her pieces “Water Lilly” and “Day Lilly”, she pushed herself to work with realism.
“That one helped me grow as an artist,” Barnett said regarding “Day Lilly.”
As implied by the name, “American Tour” provided a look at various parts of the country, reflecting different facets of American life and Barnett’s personal travels.
Barnett designed the pieces to evoke nostalgia, accommodating those who, like her, have not always called Lawton their home.
“There’s a lot of people here that are from different places in the U.S.,” Barnett said. “Maybe there’s someone here and this reminds them of home.”
For more information, contact Barnett via her Instagram page @rachellecreative.co or her Facebook page at Rachelle Barnett.