Barbara Ramsey didn't grow up knowing that her future would be as an
artist, but her parents knew. They encouraged her to take art classes and enrolled her in private art lessons as a child. After attending two years at the University of Tennessee at Martin, studying veterinary medicine, Barbara returned to her parents home near Atlanta, Ga. Her parents encouraged her to enroll in Art Institute of Atlanta, where she completed her commercial art degree.

Barbara worked for eight years as a graphic designer from Atlanta to New Mexico and on to North Carolina. In North Carolina, Barbara fell in love with the clay medium.

Barbara has many influences on her clay works. She has learned
techniques from a multitude of artistic media that have been adapted to use with clay.  She has also been influenced by the many cultures and landscapes she has lived in. But the Appalachian feeling is still a dominant influence in all of her works.

"I'll always have a passion for art you can use... even if the use is to
bring joy." "I want it to be something felt everyday, not just on special
occasions. I think every day can be made special and I want to be involved in that."

Artist's Statement:
An art teacher once told me, "there are no new ideas, only new interpretations of them." That concept has stayed with me for years.  In the beginning, I was resistant. I thought I would be the one with a new idea.  Then the arrogance of youth passed and I thought it was important to concentrate on which little piece of me would make a difference in my interpretation. Now that I am older and a little wiser, I am concentrating on celebrating all of the great ideas that have passed through the ages and
all of the amazing interpretations of them.

In this body of work I have attempted to borrow images from other cultures and eras and give them a modern twist.