Barbara was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, and continues to call Toronto home. She has taken courses at the Ontario College of Art and Design, the Art Gallery of Ontario Gallery School as well as watercolour and pen and ink workshops with Barry Coombs.
Studying under Tasira Strimban at the Barishev School of Fine Art, Barbara has recently begun to work in the botanical art genre, inspired by the flora encountered in Caribbean and Central America travel.
Love of animals and enjoyment of sailing provide subjects for her previous and other contemporary work, primarily in watercolour, coloured pencil and acrylic.