Barbara Hirst

Biography

Barbara Hirst was born in 1965 in the farming community of Carman, Manitoba. She attended the University of Manitoba’s School of Art from 1983 to 1987 where she studied with senior Canadian artist, Ivan Eyre. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree at the University of Manitoba in 1987, receiving the university gold medal for her achievements in drawing. Since then, she has completed graduate level training as an Art Therapist at the British Columbia School of Art Therapy and an Art Education Degree from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. In 1989 she completed her Art Therapy dissertation on, “How Artists Overcome Creative Blocks”. The results were published in the Journal of Creative Behavior in Buffalo, New York. Later she applied these techniques to classroom teaching and presented her ideas in St. Petersburg, Russia. While much of her time was spent teaching and using art as therapy in the classroom, Barbara maintained a studio and art making practice. She has lived in Alberta for 20 years and works as a full time artist and art educator. Hirst has traveled extensively in Ireland where she had an exhibition in 2008. Also at this time, a book of poetry was published that she illustrated for an Irish poet. She has also traveled in England, Scotland, France and Italy. These landscapes have had a strong influence on her painting. Her work can be found in collections throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. She now resides in Calgary, Alberta where she makes frequent painting trips to the Rocky Mountains.