River Region Artist Barbara Binford Davis

Barbara Binford Davis is pictured participating in a DAC Foundation plein air painting event at Nobles Ferry on Lake Jordan. Nobles Ferry was the home of the historic Dixie Art Colony form 1937 until 1948.

• Portrait of John Kelly Fitzpatrick, 2018, oil on paper, 12" x 9" 
• Walk Where They Walked, 2017, oil on canvas, 12" x 9"
• Hay Rolls at the Fitzpatrick Farm, 2016, oil on canvas, 12" x 12"

John Kelly Fitzpatrick's legacy lives on at Nobles Ferry and other sites frequented by the Dixie Art Colonists.

In addition to being a highly respected southern artist, during the 1930s and 1940s, Kelly Fitzpatrick was well known throughout the Southeast as a promoter of southern artists. As part of the Dixie Art Colony Foundation's quest to preserve the legacy of Wetumpka artist John Kelly Fitzpatrick and continue his tradition of promoting southern artists, the Dixie Art Colony Foundation is proud to feature, River Region artist Barbara Binford Davis as the first of many practicing southern artists we plan to spotlight.

BARBARA BINFORD DAVIS: Born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama, Davis has been painting since the age of fourteen. She graduated from Auburn University Montgomery in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art. While beginning her career as an artist, Davis worked in the banking industry with the steadfast hope of eventually becoming a full-time artist.

Davis began painting portraits in the mid-1990s, but in 2004, she began painting en plein air. According to Davis, plein air painting profoundly changed her life. “My work improved and it opened doors to meet other artists, join painting groups and study with many well-established artists from across the country.” After years of studying and painting, in 2010, her dream of working as a full-time artist came true. “I am so grateful to the incredible teaching artists who have been willing to share their knowledge with me.”

Through her impressionistic painting, Davis has become a master of light. All of her paintings have a radiant quality. “I have found the common threads for all of my painting subjects – whether the sky, the landscape, florals or figures – are light and its effect on the subject. I am hungry to learn more; to notice more; to capture more of the effect light has on color, value, and the modeling of form. It is my goal to create, not a photographic realism, but an impression of light.”

Davis is an active member of the Dixie Art Colony Advisory Council, Oil Painters of American, American Impressionist Society, Alabama Plein Air Association, and the Montgomery Art Guild.  She is represented in numerous galleries including: Stonehenge Gallery, Montgomery, AL; Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts Store, Montgomery, AL; Beverly McNeil Gallery, Birmingham, AL; and Gallery 905, Selma, AL.

Davis has received numerous awards. In 2017, she was named as one of Auburn University Montgomery's "Top 50 at 50."

To learn more about Barbara Binford Davis, visit her website at: BarbaraDavisArt.com

Dixie Art Colony Foundation, Wetumpka, Alabama

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