GETTING TO KNOW YOU: MARINA BARNES

In the latest of our “getting to know you” series, we are delighted to catch up with the wonderfully talented Marina Barnes. We were totally amazed to find out that Marina has had no formal art education and has only been drawing since late 2018.

Marina initially began to make presents for a her family and is now a prolific Instagram poster. She has her own shop, Jerry and Benny Toys, on Etsy here.

A Beautifully Surreal World

Based in Derby, England, Marina is a proud, self proclaimed “Outsider Artist”. Over the last two years, she has created a beautifully surreal world populated with fantastical characters. Take a look at this amazing piece of work below.

Singing with the cat – A4 size artwork using ink and wrapping paper

Using ink on paper, Marina loves to play with effects. She has developed a signature style where her characters have black eyes and long legs – particularly from the knee down. Her characters are often seen wearing long stockings or socks – even the animals!

She never knows what she will create when starting a new picture. Very often, she uses collage in her art and she has fun experimenting with different pieces of paper to see what they could become. It is important for her to catch the moment of inspiration, seeing someone or something in a piece of wrapping paper, or an image in her mind.

Girl with cat and mouse by Marina Barnes
Girl with cat and mouse by Marina Barnes – A4 size artwork

Marina says that “weirdness” is her objective and she has certainly achieved this. The more surreal an idea or picture the more she likes it – often describing her artwork as “spooky”. She has no boundaries and is not afraid to experiment with new techniques to make compelling artwork as demonstrated in the wonderful mixed media piece below.

Mixed Media surrealism by Marina Barnes
Mixed Media Surrealism – A4 size artwork

Pets are predominant

Marina is an animal lover. You will see a lot of cats and dogs in her artwork.

Portrait of a girl with her pet – A4 size artwork

She is an expert at bringing out the emotion in her animals – just look at that cat in the piece above. Whether they are happy, sad or angry Marina sees them as fun characters to use in her artistic stories.

Cat with fish
Cat with fish – 9 inches x 12 inches

We hope you have enjoyed getting to know Marina Barnes. She is already producing wonderful original art in such a short time and we can’t wait to see what she does next.

Please follow and support Marina on Instagram here and Etsy here.

Goodnight by Marina Barnes
Goodnight – A4 size artwork