Aside from being a versatile artist, Barbara Debenham has something of a reputation for being a witch. You don’t notice anything especially telling at first.
There was no broomstick leaning against the table in the café where we met. No black cat curling between our chair legs – but there was definitely something ‘different’ there. A refreshing desire for plain speaking, perhaps?
“That’s one of the reasons I was called a witch”, she smiles.
She signs her emails off as “Witch of Cumrew”, but it’s all about ‘good energy’, not hells bells and bubbling cauldrons. In fact, what you are more likely to find over the stove ‘chez Barb’ are paintings, either waiting to dry, or just finding somewhere to take a break.
A former actuarial (which sounds lyrical and haunting, but actually has to do with the “incredibly dull science” of statistical projections), Barbara has always painted, “mostly in times of great stress, like divorce and things”.
Retirement in Portugal has given her the time to develop her art away from stress, and she is having a lot of fun with seascapes and figures.
Her nudes are invariably “anonymous”, taken from behind while engaged in everyday moments, like towelling off after the bath.
Classically trained to a certain extent, Barbara is happiest with oils and watercolours, although she also enjoys oil pastels and pen and ink.
A current study of a nude with a towel is an experiment with acrylics, but she’s not enjoying it so much. “I don’t get the depth or translucence with these as I do with oils, and they dry too quickly”…
Hmmm… sounds like a spell may be in order. “Yes, I will have to work a bit more on this”, she considers.
Surprisingly – considering she’s had nearly four decades of painting – Barbara’s first exhibition was with Arte Algarve in March. “I was very nervous about submitting my work”, she admits. She needn’t have been. At least one painting almost sold three times (but that’s another story!)
So how does she feel about exhibiting again? “I will have to think about it”…
We just have to hope she doesn’t think too long. Self-doubt and reticence are the last things you need when you are an artist – and they’re not a good recipe for witchery, either!
Written by Natasha Donn
