Barbara Schelling

Barbara Schelling is a lifelong graphic designer who lives in Bigfork, Montana. Six years ago, she sat on her porch and watched a Rufous hummingbird who was extremely territorial and plain mean to all other birds and critters. This bird was dubbed Eric the Red because of his ferocious personality. She decided to paint him as Erik the Red, the Viking, and this started a new illustration tangent that was delightfully unexpected. In all the paintings, she wants to capture the details and anatomy of local birds and animals but add a quirky personality through fantastical embellishment and a brief story. Barbara is also a member of the Nakoda (Assiniboine) tribe based in Fort Belknap, MT, and is continuously learning about the cultural, personal, and historical aspects of being indigenous. Throughout all of this beauty, she has found that light and humor are in the details.

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MEET THE artist

I create realistic local and regional bird and animal illustrations but add a quirky or fantastical aspect to them. I want to tell a unique story that reflects their individual characteristics and also, reflects who we are as humans.

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the process

Sometimes the bird or animal's individual characteristics (physical or behavioral) influence the direction of the illustration. Sometimes I have a specific idea of what we do as people and anthropomorphize that into the bird/animal illustration. Either way, the story will hopefully be recognized by the audience. I do a lot of research about the specific bird or animal. You don't want to make the mistake of confusing a Black Capped Chickadee vs. a Mountain Chickadee. Egads! I pencil sketch in my idea - if it looks like it's working, I will paint in with gouache paints, usually on heavy smooth Bristol paper.

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Barbara Schelling

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Barbara Schelling

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