Tereza Barnard: Entrepreneurship to Artistry

Tereza Barnard had a discouraging review of her art as a youngster, and went on to study and pursue a career in psychology. But something didn’t quite sit right for her.
Find out how Tereza changed her circumstances and now earns money and accolade as a realist and abstract painter whose work features in Tom Croft’s book Portraits for NHS Heroes.

Buy Portraits for NHS Heroes here

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Researched, edited and produced by Claire Waite Brown
Music: Day Trips by Ketsa Undercover / Ketsa Creative Commons License Free Music Archive - Ketsa - Day Trips
Artworks: Emily Portnoi emilyportnoi.co.uk
Photo: Ella Pallet

I would love some financial support to help me to keep making this podcast. Visit buymeacoffee.com/creativityfound

Chapters

• 1:29 Tereza's art

Transcript

SPEAKER_02: 0:09

And he was very dismissive, and he basically said, I don't have no talent and I should not pursue art at all. I guess these people that have, you know, like some sort of a rigid view of what your creativity should look like, they do sometimes make the decisions. And then I picked up a book, and uh it was a book about how you basically find your true calling. And it was about from the first page I started reading, and I was like, well, painting, it's always been painting. I just never knew that I could.

SPEAKER_00: 0:42

Hi, I'm Claire, founder of Open Stage Arts, Drama and Singing Classes for Adults. Lots of the adults who come to our classes in online events are looking for a creativity that has been put on the back burner during their sensible grown-up years. I have found this to be true among other creatives too. So I've decided to find out more about the painters, photographers, writers, printmakers, actors, crafters, teachers and more who have found or refound their creativity later in life. This time I'm talking to Theresa Barnard from her Canal Side home in Oxford. I started by asking Teresa about her artistic style.

SPEAKER_02: 1:29

I do representational art, which I s I think it's like a fancy name for painting what you see. Essentially.

SPEAKER_00: 1:42

Yeah, okay, it's very realistic, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02: 1:46

Yeah, yeah. So I guess yeah, I'm a realist painter. Um although I do I guess do bits of abstract within my artworks, and I'm experimenting with that more, but it's not you know, um, I'm never probably gonna do just abstract. So yeah, figurative realism is what the discipline I'm in is called.

SPEAKER_00: 2:13

Teresa told me about an unfortunate judgment that was made on her art when she was younger.

SPEAKER_02: 2:20

I think I was just a little bit unlucky, but from what I hear, a lot of artists actually had a similar experience. So what happened is that my parents are in a completely different field. I think I discussed that with you in the past. Um they're um they're both medical doctors, and they don't know anything about art. It's just not not not their thing. And uh I've always shown an interest in art. That's not something that like they understood, although they occasionally supported it. It's not, it's just you know, not something that they had any understanding understanding of. And uh so they were trying to like gain a bit more understanding, and they were trying, I guess, to help. And they heard of some guy that used to run, I don't know, maybe he still does, some sort of a school in Czech Republic, and it was some sort of an art school. And uh they decided to show him my portfolio, and he was very dismissive, and he basically said, I d have no talent and I should not pursue art at all. And uh and so I got told by my parents, you know, yeah, it sounds like it's a really nice hobby, but like you know, get yourself a proper job basically one day.

SPEAKER_00: 3:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 3:31

Um and uh and I guess that kind of shaped me because I was like, okay, I guess if there was some sort of special talent, then I would know by now, so I guess yeah, you know, I need to get myself a decent job in something I somewhat like. Yeah. Recently I've actually um on Instagram I've uh um I followed this artist that whose um work I really like, Keita Marimoto. He tried to get into some um art college and he was um influenced by particular animation style, showed his portfolio, and uh he didn't get in and he was told like basically to not pursue what he's what yeah. Yeah, yeah. Oh that's so sad, isn't it? So yeah, it's like I guess these people that have you know like some sort of a rigid view of what your creativity should look like, they do sometimes make the decisions. Like I think this guy was actually a director of the said art school.

SPEAKER_00: 4:27

Teresa studied psychology and soon after her studies began working as an interior designer. I asked how this came about.

SPEAKER_02: 4:36

Just like a real twist of events, I guess. Um so I finished my master's um in uh developmental psychology, and uh back then I have no idea why that was, but UCL took their sweet time sending the degree certificates, which I think maybe if I was in England at the time, then maybe it would have been fine if I was applying for jobs here, and I said, Look, I've just finished UCL but I don't have the actual degree certificate. But I returned back to Czech Republic then, and they required that paper, so I couldn't start anything on the psychology front until I got that paper, and uh so I I had a little bit of money saved, and uh randomly I stumbled across a business card of uh a new hotel opening, and uh it was supposed to be some sort of like a new concept, like a kind of arty hotel slash hostel, and it just sounded quite interesting, and uh and I um basically uh messaged the person on the business card, who now turned out to be my friend, and and we clicked. Uh, and she was uh she talked to me about the concept, which is this new hotel with artworks in every room, and then I met the director of um of this whole concept, and we also clicked, so I think it was just like you know, um basically a bunch of personalities thinking that we could work together, and they employed me on something that I've never done before, and I swear I will never do again, and that is um to become a fate uh they called it marketing media media marketing manager or something like that, and they were like, Well, you're Arty, but you have your uh background in psychology, so you know you might be good at that kind of stuff, and it was basically looking after Facebook. I hate Facebook, so I should have not gone for that, yeah. But it was an uh it was basically a um foot in the door there, and uh, while I was there, I remember mentioning to the director saying, I've always fancied deterrents, it's just my little passion.

SPEAKER_00: 6:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 6:39

And he's like, Why don't you design a couple of rooms and we'll see how we get on? And so I did.

SPEAKER_00: 6:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 6:45

And uh and they actually became a success and they brought them some money, so he's like, Why don't you design a couple more? And why don't you like they had some issues with the designers that they had before, and it was around a time when everything kind of vintage and retro was coming back into fashion, and it was really popular in UK and not yet in Czech. So I think what it was is that Czech artists and designers didn't have an eye for it yet.

SPEAKER_00: 7:09

Right.

SPEAKER_02: 7:10

Now everyone does, like you know, it's just the classic hipster look.

SPEAKER_00: 7:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 7:13

But because I had it in the eye from having lived in London and they didn't, uh kind of that's how I that's how I got into it. Yeah. So I still did a bit of psychology on the side. I um I worked uh I started then working for a clinical psychologist, uh, and I did like one day a week um working with her, and then I did the hostel stuff and you know, basically free freelancing the rest of the time. And uh and I remember just not particularly liking Czech Republic. I just kind of felt like a foreigner in my own country because I previously lived eight years in England, um, and I think it was really formative eight years because I moved here when I was 19. Um and I remember um I lived in Oxford for two years during those eight years living in England, and I loved it more than anywhere. And um so I remember basically wanting to take a summer job here and seeing how I feel about Oxford, if it's still if I still like it over Prague and over any other place. Yeah. Um and I came to Oxford and I got this summer job um working for um one of these um schools that teach English. Okay, I was an activity leader, and uh and I loved Oxford just as much. And I was like, I think I really want to move here. And I met my husband this that summer who just happened to be traveling through here. Um he's Canadian, um, so it was just like a chance meeting. Um and then uh then we kept in touch and uh we decided to go um traveling together um to see if we can work or not.

SPEAKER_00: 8:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 8:45

And then after that, because I had some deals still working for the hostel and a couple of other interior jobs that I needed to finish, we moved back to Czech Republic, so I was back in Czech Republic for a little bit, and then I got pregnant, and we decided to go to Canada because I didn't think I could support us um with the interiors. So we went to Canada and stayed there for a couple of years, yeah, and uh and then I was still dreaming about Oxford, and uh so in the end we're like, shall we try Oxford? And we did.

SPEAKER_00: 9:17

What was it that finally made you begin painting in the way that you do now? As in the style, or what made me just come back to the state. What made you come back to doing some art?

SPEAKER_02: 9:31

Um so I've never really stopped doing art, although there were times I did less of it because of circumstances, or I would change medium. So I've always I've always always been into oil painting. Like ever when I was a teenager I did um I have like a number of oil paintings all on canvas. Um but then because we were moving around, I suppose I switched from oil painting to watercolours, so I did do that, but it was always a hobby, it was always something that I just kind of pulled out um when I felt like the you know the room is quiet and there's nothing else to do and I can you know do and do my hobby. But what made me pursue it as as a job was actually my husband. He originally worked in the oil field uh in the oil construction in Canada and he was good at it, but he never really liked it that much. He was like, it's a bit you know I like it, I'm good at it, but I don't love it. And uh and he always liked jewellery, and we went through kind of a couple of years of him finding his way to jewellery and the family supporting him in that, to him actually pursuing him, and uh um signing up for a really good course and then getting a job at a really famous London jeweller and making making a living out of it quite successfully. So and he's never turned back and he seems super happy. And the change from him doing a so-so job to actually doing something that he loved was tremendous to witness, yeah. Um, and very inspiring. I knew with the interiors that I like it, but I don't love it. And with psychology, I've always liked it, and I'm I still like it, just like I still like interiors, but I don't love that much either of them, and not as much as painting.

SPEAKER_00: 11:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 11:22

Uh and then I picked up a book, and uh it was a book about how you basically find your true calling. And it was about from the first page I started reading, and I was like, Well, painting, it's always been painting. I just never knew that I could. And then I looked at my husband and I was like, Well, he never he never thought that he could do um jewellery, he just thought that's always gonna be a hobby, and here we go. So, and he's like, No, I think you should try it. I think you know, he's like, I think if you were meant to be a psychologist, you would have been one already, and you kind of like haven't.

SPEAKER_00: 11:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 11:55

So he's like, go for it.

SPEAKER_00: 11:57

So that's yeah. That's so uplifting and inspiring. That's brilliant. Thank you. Tell me more about your preferred mediums and and how you work, how you paint.

SPEAKER_02: 12:10

So my preferred one is still oils. Um, I've swapped can canvases for aluminium boards because uh I work with texture within the paint and it sits on the aluminium board a bit better. So, but it's it's always been oil. Yeah. Like that's that's my love affair, lifelong.

SPEAKER_00: 12:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 12:29

Um the thing about oils is like you I'm now getting the equipment for it, but you can't transport it that easily, and there's like a cleanup that's associated with it. It's just a bit painful, you know? Yeah, like the setup takes a while, the cleanup takes a while, so you have to have more time for it than just pulling out watercolours and then just you know, uh, or pencils. So that's where the other techniques kind of come into play. Um pencils, I think I just kind of started um started getting into recently, and I've been enjoying that. It essentially started started as a necessity because of traveling. I wanted to go and see my parents, and I have I have a lot of colours here and they're quite expensive. And uh we already have you know suitcase full of stuff when we're traveling with two kids. So I'm like, I don't think, you know, I don't want to buy an extra set of colours for my parents' house because that costs a fortune. I think I will do eventually, but like right now I'm like, you know, one tube is like 20-40 quid, so can't afford to uh you know buy thousands of paints for a for a different location. So I was like, I'm just gonna pack my pencils. Um and I've recently started um exploring this technique of basically building form with pencils, and it's um using uh dark charcoal pencils and white uh charcoal pencils over each other and it just kind of uh it just kind of builds a little bit of a texture and uh um you know makes the drawing look 3D. And uh so that's something that I've been uh I've been yeah exploring. Um but yeah, my number one thing would still be oil painting, but I am uh more than willing to do some charcoal stuff on the side. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 14:12

Yeah. Um you were running person-to-person meetups before lockdown.

SPEAKER_01: 14:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 14:21

And you've been running online tutorials more recently, is that true? Yes, that is true.

SPEAKER_02: 14:28

I I um I used to do um a meetup which wasn't paid um initially. It was just uh a bunch of people um each working on their own thing. If they needed advice from me, I was happy to give it. Uh usually it was people that wanted to work on their own stuff.

SPEAKER_00: 14:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 14:47

Uh but it was really nice because I met a couple of good friends through that. Um but yeah, through lockdown, uh we just kind of cancelled cancelled that and we just kind of meet privately. Um and I started um well, I've seen my mentor doing a lot of online lessons, and they gave me an idea, and I felt like finally I've started understanding my technique enough to teach it.

SPEAKER_00: 15:10

Brilliant!

SPEAKER_02: 15:11

Um, because it's quite a complicated technique. And I have a couple of uh students sign up, and uh and it is very much, I guess, like the month uh the the meetups that I had, except they're on Zoom, it's uh the same people, and and we work on projects together. So we would set up a project. Uh for example, now we're working on a full head portrait, and uh um yeah, we have like I I demonstrate live and they ask questions. Um, I tell them why I use like what colours it uh what colours I'm using, why I'm using that. So, for example, I work with texture and I explain how basically putting texture in light areas will create a bit of a 3D look when you look at the painting from a distance. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 15:53

Oh, that's brilliant.

SPEAKER_02: 15:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 16:00

I wanted to hear more about Theresa's involvement in the Tom Croft book, Portraits for NHS Heroes.

SPEAKER_02: 16:09

I follow Tom on Instagram. He's uh he's local and he's a very helpful artist. And I'm an emerging artist, and he's always been very helpful, you know. Whenever I had any questions about how basically how our business works, he's always he's always um given valuable advice. And uh I've seen when he first posted um the feeling that I think a lot of us in art community kind of had when COVID first came about. It was a weird weird feeling because let's face it, uh art is a bit of a luxury. Yeah, you know, um it makes you feel like oh here, you know, there are people basically fighting for for their lives and there are people fighting for them. Yes. And here I am just gonna sit in my easel and paint. Yeah. Makes it Yeah. I think the feeling that a lot of us had was that it makes it a little bit vain.

SPEAKER_00: 17:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 17:01

And and he he was the one that was like, yeah, that's basically how I feel. So how I'm gonna work against that feeling is I'm gonna actually offer a free portrait to an NHS person. And uh, you know, if there are any other artists that want to do that, like message me, basically comment underneath. And I was the one of the first ones to comment there, and I was like, I think this is an excellent idea, like 100% do it. He was personally actually allocating people on that first comment, and that's before I think he even had the hashtag and whatnot, and then he like it just completely took over, and then he um did the hashtag, and then other people could basically join in without him having to allocate anyone. Okay, uh, but yeah, I think um because we know each other, we're a small community, like us artists and especially representational art and portrait art. I think there's not that many of us here. So I think we um um, you know, a lot of us know each other.

SPEAKER_00: 17:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 17:58

So I I think I I just posted my artwork and uh he reposts everyone's artwork, like I don't think he can do now everyone. Yeah, so many now, but he reposted um artworks of um of other artists, and uh and then he randomly contacted me and uh said, Yeah, do you want to be in the book? And it's like hundred percent yes. So did you paint? Um I painted a girl called Charlotte Cooper, um, and she works as a neonatal nurse in uh Manchester.

SPEAKER_00: 18:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_02: 18:32

And uh and I still have her on Instagram, and um she seems like a really lovely girl, so I'm really glad that I got teamed up with her.

SPEAKER_00: 18:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 18:39

It was a nice experience.

SPEAKER_00: 18:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 18:41

Um we had to do it based on photos, um, but I instructed her how I want the photos to be taken, like where I want the light to be hitting her face, that kind of stuff, and she did really well, and she gave me a nice fluttering picture, and yeah, I I painted that, and yeah, that was it.

SPEAKER_00: 18:58

Lovely! That's brilliant. Yeah. And for the future, near or far?

SPEAKER_02: 19:05

Um so it's in the very beginning, but um I'm talking uh about an he potentially doing an exhibition together with Philippa James, who's a photographer. Um, so hopefully we'll do that. Yeah. Um I think we're gonna approach one subject and I'm gonna paint it, and she's gonna um photograph it, and we'll see. Uh we'll see how that goes. And uh and then I have some uh a couple of other paintings that um I have in my head. One of them I've already started prepping for, so I'm looking forward to that. But yeah, I guess more um just I've got more paintings planned, but um in terms of style, I guess I'm venturing out a little bit out of the realism and employing other things. Like I think there seems to be a thing that a lot of artists just kind of want to forget 20th century that it All happened, yeah. And I get that. Um, but now I'm kind of coming back to it and thinking, like, I really like the old style of painting, and I think it's really important for us to basically know our profession, to know the trade, yeah, uh, and be good tradesmen. Um, but at the same time, I kind of want to explore other things um you know that happened in 20th century and 19th century. And um so, for example, right now I'm exploring how to uh put time into a painting, like how to represent time in a painting and uh how to slow down the viewer from viewing the painting in like one second, and like how to guide the paint how to guide my viewers in terms of where I want them to move around the painting, how I want them to view it. So these kind of things. Wow. Um so yeah, um that's something I want to work on a little bit more. Amazing. Just kind of at the beginning of that.

SPEAKER_00: 20:57

Oh, that's amazing. If people want to view your work and connect with you, where should they go?

SPEAKER_02: 21:05

Um to my website, teresabarnart.com. It's Teresa with a Z. On Instagram, I'm on Instagram. I think that's the only social network I'm really active on at times.

SPEAKER_00: 21:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 21:18

Uh I do uh I do do local exhibitions, I do do international exhibitions, um, but I do tend to announce it usually on in the Instagram page. I did do one physical exhibition this year, that was nice, but yeah, everything else seems to be online.

SPEAKER_00: 21:33

Yes, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 21:35

And I guess that's how it's gonna be for the foreseeable future. Definitely, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 21:40

Thank you very much, Teresa. Thank you. I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, perhaps you'd like to financially contribute to future episodes at buymeacoffee.com slash creativity found. There's a link in the show notes. If you are listening on a value for value enabled app, such as Fountain, TrueFans, or Podcast Guru, feel free to send a few sacks my way. And if you have no idea of what I'm talking about, you can find out more by listening to my sister podcast called Podcasting 2.0 in practice.