After graduating from Utah State University in illustration and working as a freelance illustrator, Barbara evolved as a fine art oil and watercolor painter. Commonly portraying figurative imageries, still life’s and landscapes; her painterly, realistic paintings have received numerous awards (listed below) as they have been exhibited in international, national, regional and state juried, invitational, group and two person exhibits. The Utah Arts Council as part of the State of Utah's Permanent Collection purchased two of her paintings. One of those, "Gotcha!" hangs in the First Lady of Utah's State Office.

Barbara had the honor of being juried several times into the prestigious International Arts for the Parks Top 100 Exhibit and in 2002 was awarded the Yellowstone National Park Purchase Award and the Arts for the Parks Wildlife Award of Merit. Earlier in the same exhibit, U.S. Art Magazine selected her painting for its Award of Excellence.

Some of Barbara’s other exhibits and awards include: Oil Painters of America National and Regional Exhibits-National Award of Excellence and Regional Award of Excellence; Utah Watercolor Society - Award of Excellence and Intermountain Society of Artists - First Place Painting Award,. Barbara’s award winning painting, “Cool Waters” was published in the 2003 September/October Issue of the Wildlife Art Magazine article, “America the Beautiful: Glimpses of the National Parks”. Her painting "When I was a Child" was published in the North Light Book, The Best of Portrait Painting. Barbara is also listed in the prestigious Cambridge Who’s Who Registry.

A native of the American West, Barbara was born and raised in Southeastern Idaho. She is represented by galleries from Texas to her home state of Utah where she currently resides with her artist husband, Glen.