KATHLEEN BARRETT

October 20, 1942 – May 17, 2023

Born during WWII at her grandmother's home in Neligh, Nebraska, Kathleen played many roles in her life – a daughter to Pinkie and Gene, a sister to Bob and Dick, a wife to David, a mother to Rachel, Dave, Pete, Alex and Andy, and close friend to a select few. But who she was, is summed in one word - ARTIST.

Kathleen grew up in Chicago but lived much of her adult life in Europe finally settling in Shipston-on-Stour, England. Graduating high school from Convent of the Sacred Heart, she had the unique experience of growing up in the Ambassador Hotel, where her father was the general manager. Kathleen’s higher education included Bennett College in Millbrook NY, the New School for Social Research in New York City, NY, and the Academia delle Belli Arti in Rome, Italy. From childhood, she worked with ideas of combining painting, music and poetry in what she called ‘counterpoint.’ Her figurative, symbolist, expressionist style grew from her studies in America and Italy. She drew from the work of Ben Shahn and the Mexican muralists, Orozco and Rivera. Her studies at the New School included the innovative psychology of art under Dr. Rudolf Arnheim. From her time in Italy, her expressionist work emerged in a Baroque-style with swirling motion, ever to expand, fill and animate her entire canvas. As a lifelong learner, Kathleen’s art was her expression and interpretation of a wide variety of subjects ranging from art and music, to literature and history, to poetry and philosophy, to physics and astrology, to mythology and religion.

Kathleen was a prolific artist creating in a number of different mediums, including oil paintings, sketches, marionettes, digital art, silverpoint drawings, egg tempera and gold leaf miniatures. Her figurative painting and multi-cultural subjects led her to work alongside theater and opera companies. As an Artist-in-Residence for The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1987-88 and The Vienna State Opera (Wiener Staatsoper) in 1991-92, Kathleen portrayed theatrical productions from rehearsal through final performances. Spending hours in rehearsals, observing costume fittings and associated workshop activities, she would feverishly sketch her subjects. And afterwards, these drawings would burst into powerful colour on large format canvases for the attending audiences to marvel at. Thus, her art would bridge the areas of theater traditionally separated - audience and performer, front of house and backstage. Throughout her expansive career, she also had an array of solo artist exhibitions which took her work across the US and Europe.

In the 1990s, she founded The Shakespeare Marionette Company and created marionettes for a range of Shakespearean productions including Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. These collections of puppets were also performed and exhibited throughout Europe.

Finding her heart and soul in Shipston-on-Stour, Kathleen established her art studio there and worked up until her last days. In the last couple decades, Kathleen’s work included an array of digital art and most recently her innovative figurative work using gold leaf. She also continued to express her artistic endeavors through hobbies such as gardening, bread making, and needlepoint. And her presence was pronounced by the display of marionettes and painted stage in the window on Church Street. Kathleen will be greatly missed as a quiet, gentle part of the Shipston community.