BARBARA HAILS BIO - RENAISSANCE GALLERY

Artist Barbara Hails, with her husband and best friend Bob, lives and works in Olney, Maryland, twenty-five miles north of Washington DC. Barbara paints full-time in her studio while Bob manages their affairs.
Barbara's Originals and Limited Editions on fine art paper and hand-enhanced canvas are collected worldwide.

One of Barbara's earliest memories, at age four, is her excitement that the shapes she made on paper with pencil actually looked like something! It was like being struck by lightning. From that moment on she wanted to be an artist. Throughout her childhood, whenever she held a pencil, she drew: in the margins of school papers, on restaurant place mats, and on the telephone message pad. During recess when others played games, she drew. The thrill of art has never left her.

After college and her degree in Fine Art, Barbara and Bob married in 1966. While raising two children, Bob II and Charlotte, Barbara continued with her art: teaching, painting, exhibiting, and earning awards.

With the success of her first one-person show in 1981, Barbara's career was launched. She lists pages of awards which include citations from the Pastel Society of America, Salmagundi Club, and Maryland Federation of Art. She was named OUTSTANDING ARTIST OF THE YEAR by the National League of American Penwomen. Barbara's works have been selected for hundreds of juried exhibitions including the National Arts Club, ArtExpoNY, Butler Institute of American Art, and the Société Des Pastellistes de France at Palais Rameau in Paris.

Acknowledged as one of America's outstanding pastellists, Barbara is an elected member to the Pastel Society of America, Maryland Pastel Society and Artists' Equity. She is listed in Who's Who in American Art. Her work appears in numerous collections including IBM, Marriott, Readers' Digest Corporation, Gannett, Arthur Anderson, and Riggs National Bank. What pleases her most, though, is that her art is chosen and displayed with pride in thousands of private homes throughout the world. She feels a keen kinship with her collectors.
Introduced to Barbara's work, you will always recognize it. Her style is unique. Applying pastel to a ground glass museum board with a technique she invented, or oil to linen, Barbara is able to capture bright sunshine and rich translucent shadows in her artwork. That light is what most people notice and remember.

In her personal life, Barbara enjoys photography, sewing, gardening, and entertaining. However, her greatest joy are her adorable grandchildren: Bobby, Michael, Alex, and Casey.