Barbara Sullivan

Biography



Barbara Jean Sullivan is listed in Who's Who in American Art, 2002-2006. Her original painting "Littlest Apache" is in the permanent collection of the Whitehouse, Washington, D.C. In 2001 she received the Gold Medal Award for Best Oil at the Bosque Conservatory of Art in Texas. In 2000, she was honored to be selected to study with Howard Terpning, a member of Cowboy Artists of America.

The mother of four children, Sullivan started her art career when her children were almost grown. Her boundaries as a talented artist have expanded into national recognition with a resume of over 45 invitational juried shows, awards and
recognitions including the C.M. Russell Auction of Original Western Art.

Artist Statement

Living in the American west, I enjoy painting the people and the land - especially Native American women and children. I strive to capture a deeper, sensative, personal side of my subjects while preserving the nostalgia of the Old West, a love that fills my soul. My great-grandmother was Native American from the Iroquois Family.

Riding horseback through the desert or over the mountains...feeling the warm wind on my face or listening to the soft crunch of snow under the horses' hooves...

These experiences - and riding horseback twenty miles through the pristine Bridger Wilderness in Wyoming, over the same trails as Jim Bridger and his party as they ventured into the vast unknown wilderness - evoke memories and feelings that influence my work today. I enjoy a sense of freedom, yet an attachment to this land and its people.

The land and subjects are a never ending source of light, space and design that take on an excitement when playing lights against darks, 
warm colors against cool, soft and hard edges. New challenges are faced with each work as I strive to create, through oil painting, the sensitivity, complexity, beauty and aesthetics that invite the viewer to visually enter and enjoy each painting - that once was once a moment in time!

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

27th Edition Who's Who in American Art 2007 - 2008
26th Edition Who's Who in American Art 2005 - 2006
25th Edition Who's Who in American Art 2003 - 2004
24th Edition Who's Who in American Art 2001 - 2002
2002 MD Who's Who in American Art, 25th Edition
2001 Gold Medal Award - Best Oil, Bosque Conservatory 16th Annual Art Competition, Clifton, Texas Juror: Tony Eubanks, signature member of Oil painters of America. Who's Who in American Art, 24th Edition
2000 Who's Who of American Women, Millennium Edition 2000-2001. Who's Who in the West, 2001-2002
1999 Juried Award: National Fine Arts Competition, Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery, Cedar City, Utah Juror: Lorne Render, Director, C.M. Russell Museum
1996 Permanent Collection, White House, Washington, D.C.
1995 Judges Award; 43ed Annual Art Roundup, Las Vegas Art Museum
1994 Best of Show; Native American Indian Art Competition, Las Vegas Art Museum
1984 Silver Medal; C.M. Russell Auction of Original Western Art, Great Falls, Montana Honored by Montana Governor, Ted Schwinden Members of the C.M. Russell Auction of Original Western Art for Quick Draw Juried Member, American Institute of Fine Art
1983 Nominee; National Awards in the Visual Arts Southeastern Center for Contemporary Arts, North Carolina
1982-83 Award of Excellence; American Mothers State Competition Who's Who Nevada Art Registry, Library Arts Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. First Place Oils; Caliente Professional Invitational, Caliente, Nevada
1981 Reserve Grand Champion; Las Vegas, State Fair
1978 Popular Award; San Gabriel Fine Arts Association Invitational, San Gabriel, California Juried Award; American Mothers State Competition in Genre Juried Award; Caliente Professional Invitational Painting of the Month Awards; five times at the Sahara Hotel, sponsored by the Las Vegas Art Museum
1976-77 Top Juried Awards; Jaycee State Fair, Las Vegas, Nevada

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

1992 Cover Illustration, The Horsemen, Putnum-Berkley, New York. Twenty-two contemporary western pastel paintings The Virgin River Hotel and Casino, Mesquite, Nevada
1991 Cover Illustration, Winter Rage, Putnum-Berkley, New York
1984 Juror for the 32nd Annual Clark County Fall Roundup, Las Vegas, Nevada
1981 Painting "Mountain Splendor", Permanent Collection, Nevada National Bank

EXHIBITIONS

2001 Bosque Conservatory of Art, 16th Annual Art Competition, Clifton, Texas
1999 Mother Lode National 33ed Annual Art Exhibition, Placerville, California Canyon Country Western Arts Festival Fine Arts Competition. Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery, Cedar City, Utah. Two Person Show, Carrara Galleries, Las Vegas, Nevada
1995 43ed Annual Art Roundup, Las Vegas Art Museum
1994 Native American Indian Art Competition, Las Vegas Art Museum
1987 Far Western Art Association Show, Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada. 8th Annual Western Art Show, Burk Gal'ry, Boulder City, Nevada
1986 C.M. Russell Museum Artist Invitational Exhibition, Great Falls, Montana
1985 Guest Artist, Women Artists of the American West, Pa-Jo's Gallery, Pinedale, Wyoming
1984 George Phippen Memorial Invitational Western Art Show, Prescott, Arizona. One Person Show, Artist Gallery, Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas Nationals 83ed Juried Invitational
1983 16th Annual C.M. Russell Auction of Original Western Art, Great Falls, Montana 6th Annual Kalispell Art Show and Auction, Kalispell, Montana 7th Annual Western Art Show, Burk Gal'ry, Boulder City, Nevada. Two Person Show, Burk Gal'ry, Boulder City, Nevada
1982 U.S. Federal Building Exhibition, One of three artists sponsored by the City of Las Vegas

FEATURED ARTIST

1999 Carrara Galleries, Las Vegas, Nevada
1984 Artist Gallery, Las Vegas, Nevada
1983 Burke Gal'ry, Boulder City, Nevada
1981-82 Christmas Art Festival and U.S. Federal Building Exhibition sponsored by the City of Las Vegas
1976 Boulder City Art Festival sponsored by the Boulder City Hospital, Nevada