Biography

Barbara Ursel is an award-winning Canadian painter based in Ottawa Canada.

Working exclusively in acrylic, Barbara transforms familiar urban places through light, shadow,  colour and atmosphere moving between recognition and abstraction.

Her paintings invite viewers to experience a place rather than simply identify it, often evoking memory and the fleeting nature of perception. She is especially interested in that point of tension where a scene can still be identified,  yet has become something more ambiguous, atmospheric and personal.

Barbara’s work is represented by Koyman Galleries in Ottawa,  Canvas Gallery in Toronto,  Chase Art Gallery in Montreal and Galerie Annexe,  the commercial gallery of the Ottawa Art Gallery. Her paintings are held in public, corporate and private collections in Canada and internationally,  including the City of Ottawa Art Collection and the Baldwin Collection of Canadiana at the Toronto Public Library.

An Exhibiting Member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, Barbara has received numerous juried awards and distinctions in Federation exhibitions. She has exhibited widely for more than a decade in both solo and group juried exhibitions.