A Westchester County resident since 1965, Barbara Blesh Edelmann began to paint in acrylics in 1976 as a hobby for ‘rainy days.’ This self-taught pastime has grown over the years to where she “just can’t stop painting” no matter the weather, the season or the medium, which now includes watercolor and drawing. Her works are vibrant and energetic, each piece making use of the whole spectrum of the palette to create floral, stone and sea scapes in all sizes. Her impressionistic inspirations are drawn upon from photographs, books, catalogues and real life. She then uses her imagination, love of colors and brushstrokes to create her inner vision, often extending the idea of the image beyond the scope of the canvas for the viewer to imagine the next line and color.

Centers and Beyond reflects Ms. Edelmann’s exploration of colors, energy and design, as so often is expressed by Nature’s perfect floralscapes. She carries this energy to the beauty she sees in rocks and stone, in ceramic urns and in the female form. The artist conveys this excitement in her brush strokes even as her canvases convey the power and the inherent peace of such exploration into life’s Centers.

Forward and Beyond represents a new vision for the artist, that of exploring various techniques she never before tried, (e.g., using palette knife in “Silence”); painting her vision of places she has not physically seen (e.g., “Mt. Pilchuck Blues”); or if seen, seen now in hindsight with an inner vision, (e.g. “Reverence”) and "TranZendenZ" represents the artist's first adventure into the fluidity of abstract design. This new direction has been informed by her search for definition of her life’s past challenges and it reflects a female perspective of all she has embraced. There is an underlying excitement in her painting even as there is an underlying calmness, warmth and humor in her acceptance…after all, what else is left but laughter when you’ve seen enough to know you’ve missed so many calls.

Ms. Edelmann’s work has received various ribbons throughout the years from Westchester art shows and her “Poppies” received First Prize at the Woman’s Club of White Plains Beaux Arts Exhibition. Ms. Edelmann’s original paintings and giclées are for sale and each is certified by the artist.

Ms. Edelmann received her B.A. in English Literature from Vassar College and subsequently earned an M.S. degree in Speech and Hearing Pathology from Columbia University. She is the author of “The Pain of Rainbows”, a collection of poems which became an Off-Off Broadway play, Woman Song. She later joined the business world at MBIA Inc. as Vice President.

You can view her work at barbaraedelmann.com