Photo Credit: Victoria Pearson Robin Baron: Welcome Barbara! What would you say is your greatest source of inspiration? Barbara Barry: I am deeply influenced by the things that exist freely in the world. I am inspired by the beauty in nature, from a single golden leaf that falls to the ground to a fluffy white cloud in a summer sky. When I’m in nature I observe with more intention. I see more and the world seems more magical. RB: Do you think that your style can be defined? BB: I love this question because I have often wondered that myself. My work is more of a philosophy than a style and that philosophy is one of simplicity and calm. This is where I believe real elegance lives. I like to think of my work, with all due respect…like an English film, meaning an ensemble…no one star but a harmonious whole where everything is in relationship to each other. Simplicity of line, fluidity of form, quiet colors and natural harmonies…that’s my style.
Photo Credit: David Meredith RB: You see the world from an artist’s perspective. What does that mean? BB: It means I see my rooms as walk-in paintings. It means I start every project with a color palette. Like a writer who thinks in words or a musician who hears musical notes, I see my world in colors and forms and their special relationships.
Photo Credit: David Meredith RB: Tell me about your design process. BB: Mine is a search for beauty and understanding of beauty. I experience the world in a very visceral way. I am deeply influenced by my surroundings and it is vital that I am in an ordered space. I am never without a blank piece of paper and my watercolors are always close at hand. But I am not linear…I work in a stop/start way and have learned to deal with constant interruption.
Photo Credit: David Meredith RB: What has been an exciting recent project for you? BB: My new book, Around Beauty ! Because it has been my most personal project….
Barbara Barry: Around Beauty RB: Tell me about your book. BB: My book is a love story really, a love story of my life, my work and the magic and joy it brings to me. It is a book about design but also about how design delivers a way of being in the world. It is told in short stories in which I hope to share my ideas and to inspire others. RB: If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would that be? BB: I always imagine a clear calm lake in the forest. I am looking at a lot of lakes in the world but I haven’t found mine yet. RB: What is your guilty pleasure? BB: Ice cream and reading. RB: What’s next for Barbara Barry? BB: Taking some time away from work… RB: How would you define “fabulous”? BB: Well, let’s bring it all together…nature, a pristine lake, beauty and good friends.