We were lucky to catch up with Barbara Mosher recently and have shared our conversation below.

Barbara , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I started my professional life in industrial design, then went on to build a very successful 25-year career in real estate. I was good at it, and it taught me a lot about people, discipline, and how to stay steady under pressure. But through all of it, I always found my way back to my art — sometimes quietly, sometimes urgently.

But a conventional job never gave me the kind of joy, that painting does. when the piece finally comes together I feel something shift — the unmistakable feeling that you’re doing just the thing you were meant to do.

So yes, I’m happier as an artist. Not because it’s easier, but because it’s where everything — my design background, my business years, my resilience — finally fits together and I feel that delight and childlike wonder in my studio.

Barbara , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I began in industrial design, and that training still sits underneath everything I paint — a sense of structure, balance, and spatial awareness. Even though my work is abstract and intuitive, there’s always an internal framework guiding it.

My practice centers on color-driven abstract paintings. Color is where I start, and it’s usually where the painting finds its direction. I work large because it allows color to expand and set the tone of a room. I also create smaller works and prints, all with the same intention: to shift the feeling of a space.

What sets me apart

I paint for emotional impact, not decoration.
My design background brings clarity and structure to the work, while my process stays intuitive and responsive.
Everything I’ve lived — change, resilience, curiosity — shows up in the layers and movement of the paint.

People often tell me my paintings feel alive or grounded in a way they can’t always name. That matters to me. I want my work to create connection, not perfection.

What I hope people know is that my art comes from an honest place. It’s rooted in experience and built through process, with the goal of offering a moment of recognition or pause — something real, without needing explanation.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My creative mission has always been driven by one thing: the belief that art carries an energy all its own. When I paint, I’m not just putting color on a surface — I’m trying to translate something felt, something true, something shifting inside me.

My mission is to create work that doesn’t just decorate a wall, but alters the atmosphere of a space… and maybe the person standing in front of it. If someone feels even a moment of recognition — that soft “yes, that’s me” — then I’ve done what I came here to do.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

What many non-creatives don’t realize is that being an artist means living with a constant tension: the desire to express something true while never fully knowing what will emerge. The work comes from a deep place, and reaching for it can feel both exhilarating and unsettling.

What they often don’t see is the emotional cost: the vulnerability of putting your inner world on display, the silence of waiting for validation that may never come, and the courage required to keep going anyway. Creativity is not a straight path. It’s a long conversation with yourself — and you have to stay in it, even when it gets uncomfortable.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.barbaramosher.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mosheertudios
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BarbaraMosherStudio
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-m-07727622/
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mosherstudio
• Other: Blog: https://www.barbaramosher.com/blog

Image Credits

None