Maria Barnes - Inspiring Creative Stories
I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Maria Barnes for the first time when she arrived on Magnetic Island for my Art of Creative Living Retreat in 2022.
Her days are full as she works as an Intensive Care Nurse, and yet she absolutely loves to be creative in her studio space at home.
I loved hearing how Maria manages to carve out time to get lost in her creative process, and how it has led to finding so much peace when she is in the creative zone.
Maria took the time to answer my interview questions and I’m so happy she did! I love seeing her creative space, hearing how she likes to approach her painting practice and much more. I think you’ll love her story, too.
Let’s dive in!
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your paintings? I would love to know what led you to pick up a paintbrush.
My name is Maria Barnes, my work role is as an Intensive Care Nurse, which keeps me pretty busy. But my real passion is painting.
I think I’ve always been creative, I remember getting my first set of paints as a child from Santa one year and I just thought that it was the best thing or I would spend hours working on my colouring-in book.
I guess I really began to live as an artist after my divorce and I was able to live on my own, being able to set up a room just for painting was a great joy and the journey then began. I was then able to shop for art supplies and make all the mess I wanted to without anyone telling me that I couldn’t.
I like to work with acrylic paints although I do sometimes play with watercolours, inks and pastels.
My art business is called ‘eMBrace art’ and I display and sell my art at a local market 3 times a year. I also have a website where I display my art (www.embraceart.net)
My work is very abstract. I love painting figures or the face fascinates me, again all done in an abstract form. I love working with colour and also some collage using paper and fabric within the painting.
I love the feeling of being free and loose while painting, allowing the paintbrush to take control and see what happens. I love to be able to paint intuitively allowing my heart to guide the painting process over my mind.
Painting with Maria Barnes and Beth Cregan at the Art of Creative Living Retreat.
Maria Barnes with her framed watercolour painting for our end of retreat exhibition.
What do you love most about being creative?
I love living a creative life…. being creative isn’t just a thing, it’s a way of life.
It takes over everything, it’s the way you see things, it’s the way you communicate with others, it’s the way you feel, what you listen to, the way you care for your body, the home you live in.
I love that being a creative being allows you to live a miraculous life, you see wonder in the little things, a flower, a bird, the clouds in the sky, the blue of the ocean. You see colour in a new and different way. Everything becomes a wonder and a joy to observe. At least this is how it is for me.
I love that I have creativity to fall back on after having a busy day I can come home and escape to my art studio and paint.
It’s my happy place, it’s a place to chill and go within.
And what are some of the challenges?
I guess the biggest challenge for me is that I always want to be painting. Even when I’m working as a nurse I’m still thinking about painting. It’s always on my mind, when can I get there and what is it I will do next when I’m in my studio.
The other challenge I guess is the cost of art supplies, if your anything like me I will always be looking to buy new art supplies.
Can you please describe your creative space? Where do you like to create?
I love my creative space, It’s like a sunroom in the house. There is a sliding door that goes out to the garden, so I always have fresh air coming into the studio and beautiful sunlight streaming in the windows.
I have a workbench and an easel. Many shelves are full of art supplies and a red chair where I sit and contemplate my latest project. It can be a bit of a mess to anyone else looking at it, but I find it a calm chaos.
I often have candles burning and a cup of tea brewing.
I am always being kept company by my animals Molly my Labrador and Mable the cat. They both watch over over me while I paint. Or often I’ll just hang out in the studio, in my chair and read a book about artists, it’s a very peaceful part of my house.
How do you challenge yourself?
I do try to challenge myself with different trying different techniques or using different and unusual tools, for example, I sometimes paint with a twig of a tree or a feather, to give different textures and shapes.
I try and do a different workshop, course or retreat yearly when able.
I try and challenge myself by experiencing different situations. For example, travel is a wonderful time to challenge yourself. I’ ’m heading to Europe in May and I know that experience will be of great benefit to my painting, just to be putting myself in different situations and experiences.
Maria flew to Magnetic Island, North Queensland in 2022 for my Art of Creative Living Retreat. We had so much fun!
Everyone deep in thought doing some journalling prompts during the retreat.
Has anyone ever made you feel discouraged about your creative expression with their criticism – I hope not – but if so, how did you navigate that experience?
I’ve never had anyone discourage my work or my creative expression. But if I did I would look at is a learning experience and try and grow from it.
What do you find inspiring? How do you nurture your inspiration?
I find many things inspiring, a leaf on the ground, the patterns on a wall, the colour of the sky.
I spend a lot of time in nature, I love being in garden or walking in the bush.
Being quiet and in meditation is a wonderful time also for inspiration to come to you, it’s amazing how many great ideas pop into your head when you rest your mind from busy thoughts.
What is your creative process like? Do you work in seasons, picking up and putting down your creative projects, or do you have a consistent routine?
I tend to have a consistent routine when it comes to my painting although sometimes I have quiet periods when not much painting occurs, maybe then I might be reading about artists or the life of an artist. So I’m always doing something related to the arts.
My process is usually the same I make a cup of tea or if it’s the evening a glass of wine, I light a candle and put my apron on, I might move some art supplies around as I explore which project I’m going to work on then.
Then I might begin by just making marks on the canvas with pencils or pastels to get my intuition warmed up. Then I will place some paints onto a paper plate, pick my paint brush and off I go.
When do you like to be creative? How much time do you spend in the studio during the week on average?
I like to paint mainly during the day so that I have the sunlight to work with. I try and paint every day that I’m not working.
Sometimes it’s for a quick 15 minutes when I quickly just put some marks on the canvas or other times I get so involved that a few hours have gone by. But as It’s just me and the animals living in the house it dosen’t really matter.
What surprised you most about expressing your creativity?
The thing that surprises me the most about my creativity is the peace I experience when I am in my painting zone.
It’s like I go to another place, nothing can disturb me.
Have you experienced any gifts in the midst of deepening your relationship with your creativity?
I feel that being a creative person allows me to be more focused and peaceful in the rest of my life. Painting calms me and this then flows on to the rest of my day.
I feel that I’ve become more of a compassionate person because of my creative side.
I feel that I am very intuitive about people’s feelings and mood and can be more understanding and aware of how people are feeling around me. I’ve become a calmer person, especially as being creative has also led me to focus on self- love and self- healing in my life so I do a lot of massage, walking and yoga, looking after my body and mind.
I believe more in angels and spirits and feel more and more that we are guided and watched over in our lives.
A couple of Maria’s beautiful abstract watercolours from the Art of Creative Living Retreat.
What are you reading & listening to at the moment?
I love reading and am currently reading the ‘Outlander’ series, the main characters being Clare and Jamie Fraser. It’s a wonderful historical series about a doctor who travels back in time. The books are very long but I love curling up before sleep and reading a few chapters.
I’m listening to a couple of Podcasts including ‘Art Juice’ which is a wonderful podcast by Alice Sheridan and Louise Fletcher both artists from England, it’s just chatting about art and living a creative life. I also love to listen to Mel Robbins’ podcast.
And I’m listening to Richard Marx's music, I recently went to see him live and it took me back to my teenage up years.
What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone wanting to deepen their relationship with their creativity?
My advice to anyone wanting to experience a creative life would be to create a little area in your home that is especially for you and your artwork. Somewhere you can paint and create freely without having to pack it up all the time.
To breathe deeply and let inspiration come. To notice colour and shape in your world.
To explore living a creative life including what you read, what you listen to, spend time in your garden, listen to the birds, spend time listening to your heart, if you get an idea that excites you focus on that and allow that little idea to become a reality.
Believe in yourself.
Let yourself be guided in what it is you wish to do.
Do what makes you happy and do what you love to do.
Thank you so much for sharing your creative life with us, Maria!
I hope you enjoyed reading about Maria’s inspiring creative life.
If you would like to make creativity a priority in your life this year, I would be honoured to paint with you and support you in making that intention come true. Flourish: The Art of Creative Living is open for registration now for the 2023 intake, for a short time. I invite you to explore more about my fun-filled, supportive, year-long creativity school, right here.
Inside Flourish, we explore painting with acrylic, oils, and watercolours, plus photography, collage and writing projects to fuel your creativity.
You are also invited to join me for the next Art of Creative Living Retreat, this time on the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef on Lady Elliot Island. There are still some places available, so I warmly invite you to check it out and send me an email to reserve your place.
I’d love to support you in your creative living adventures.
Be kind to yourself and nurture your creativity.
With my warm wishes,
Nicola xx
About Nicola Newman
I'm a Creative Business Coach, Award-Winning Artist & Mentor for Creative Hearts who want to flourish, flow & prosper.
My approach combines self-care, playfulness, and mindfulness to support sensitive, values-driven creatives to navigate self-doubt and cultivate deep self-trust so they can truly enjoy the creative process, bring together their body of work, make money doing what they love and leave a creative legacy they’re proud of.
As an award-winning artist and creative mentor, my free resources, online courses, coaching programs, and retreats support Creative Hearts to embrace their passions, prioritise their creative expression, and build loving relationships with themselves.
Let’s pour a cuppa and get to know one another, shall we? :) Read more about my story here.