Barbara Sayre Harmon at Blumenshein: Sept. 21—April 21, 2013

“Magic and Mastery”

By Debra Villalobos

She is grace in motion and a pleasure to spend even a moment with. One can see how the tiniest details demand her attention, whether dress, life, herself. Her art reflects the enriching, refreshing attention that is Barbara.

This elegant persona reminds one of a bird, singing early morning lyrics at sunrise, and she has been painting, printmaking, layering pastels, sinking into water color, writing and illustrating childrens’ books and living a most creative life in Taos, for how many years? Sixty-five.

In the “Land of Willderwish” she portrays a world of “little people” that encounter the basics–food gathering, shelter, facing the elements wrought by nature. The inhabitants endure and create beauty with a cozy fortitude. Again in “The Tumpfee Wood Acorn Book,” she has created a tiny book of enchantment and delight. Inside the front cover, she states, “Here in our Everyday World, the acorn, as we hold it in our hands, is so often the talisman of our Make-Believe adventures, and the acorn cup itself a true chalice of the Imaginary Experience.”

Notice the capitalization of the important words. She speaks that way.

Two pieces in the show at the Blumenschein Museum are black and white watercolors. (We rarely see watercolors in black and white. Pen and ink, most probably, with black ink, fine nib of a pen, and especially, we see it in calligraphy. Every invitation, even the labels are rendered by her tender hands!) “Dancing Doll” and “Autumn Festival” seem to have been “painted” with a needle, rather than a brush or even pen nib, creating “whispered” lines and drawing the viewer into an intimate mood.

Her more colorful watercolors, the mythic and mystery paintings display layered texture and keep one lingering, gazing, pondering (how did she do that?) taking in all the finesse of dress and gesture, especially enticing in this season of fall and Halloween. “Walking Home”, (an older woman with pointed hat, full skirts draping her body, right hand raised as though to fend off the darkness or danger of night, left hand holding a lantern to light the way), or “What Lovely Creature Is This?” and “He Gazed Long At The Portrait” portray images with secrets if we gaze long enough and listen.

The pastels and paintings of flowers and gardens are airy, breezy, also with secrets to impart. Thus, the many dancers of other worlds swirl their eyelashes, skirts and veils, tantalize our imaginations with the illusions they provoke.

The still lifes are truly still, serene and swaying to remind us that the world holds a certain softness even during turbulent times. If only for a moment. Barbara does this with pastels, the surface of paper and scrubbing and scratching across that surface with chalky sound and color reminds us of the fineness of leaning and lying beneath blossom and leaf, almost smelling the moisture and texture captured in even the one petal, the wisp and the wind that travels.

Barbara Harmon spreads her tiny wings tirelessly and like a hummingbird, flutters and buzzes about to remind us that she and Cliff Harmon, her husband, are still, ever still sharing their artistic creations, ever about us, still living and engaging. Both of them are the epitome of grace and treasure, living among us reminding us that we really should be paying attention to the finer details of life.