Barbara names her paintings abstract realism: " My shapes are completely abstract and in combination make something realistic". She publishes her first book Watercolor The Creative Experience in 1979.
Form
As teacher and author, Barbara encourages her students to trust in their instincts, and quells their fears about the process of finding one’s own creative voice through watercolor painting. A true believer in “follow your bliss,” it eventually led her 3000 miles from the bustle of the city to land gently in the heart of California’s Napa Valley wine country where her studio rests amidst the rolling vineyards.
Barbara Nechis discovered how to use watercolor loosely and freely in the fresh light of creativity. She can coax images, hints, shadows and form from the creative process itself. To learn to do this she first took the time to learn the methods and processes that were working for her teachers.
I mainly work in watercolor because it insists on creativity. I do not have to think about anything first, just start and this creates problems that need to be solved. I use watercolor in order to make something fluid. It's a really unique technique. I am in a sense a traditional painter but I believe however that it is the results that matter, whatever the method of work.
I usually use pure colors. On the other hand, I will dip my brush in several cups successively so that the colors are then mixed on the sheet. But when I spend my wash and I work in glaze, I actually mix my colors.
The Art of Watercolour #17, p46Barbara Nechis
