The Artist's Studio:
Tour the Artist's Gallery

Meet the Artist: Barbara Santucci

Meet Baby Jane Dinosaur

Barbara Santucci's paintings and pieces of art are filled with bright colors that seem to bounce off one another. Her collages and paintings are energized by the vibrant interplay of the palette. Loving texture, she frequently uses papers, pastels and found objects to add a dimensional quality to her work. Themes that run through her work is a sense of home, friendship, and festiveness. Nature is also a peaceful and calming theme that is prevalent in her work. Images of cats, birds and other animals are often found in her pieces -- both in her collages and her paintings.


Several of her collages are influenced by her love of old quilts and their patterns. The paper she makes to create her collages is unique. Processed from old fabric or plants she often adds other ingredients such as threads and yarn. The process might include pulp painting parts of the paper with acrylic. Pulp painting is a process of adding acrylic dyes to diluted paper pulp.

Barbara often uses her collections of antique buttons, beads, lace, die-cut cards, Japanese stamps and charms to embellish her hand-sewn collages. Other techniques include the use of embossing, airbrush painting, as well as her acrylic painting.

Art Awards, Gallery Showings, Exhibitions, etc.

In 2002 Barbara Santucci was awarded the prestigious Blanche Ellis Starr Award for the Arts that is given to a performer, artist, writer, teacher of the arts or a woman who has made significant impact on the arts in the Rockford (Illinois) area.