Oils on Canvas board

Painted Spring 2024

Oil paint on A4 canvas

Painted February 2024

Oils on canvas

Painted January 2024

A4 canvas

Painted Feb 2024

Inspired by countless lockdown visits with my daughter Ruby to our local park - Fog Lane Park in Didsbury.

For much of the Summer the playground was locked shut.

Ruby would sadly look into the playground while the grass around the play equipment grew longer and longer.

Eventually it reopened but it was paradise postponed for a long time…..

Watercolour paint and acrylics on cartridge paper 59cm X 42cm

Started autumn 2020 and finished 2 January 2021

(c) Ian Barrett 2021

Coming soon to a theatre near you.

Featuring the dulcet tones of Boris Johnson backed by the velvet fingered keyboards of the Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty

Winsor And Newton Watercolour inks on A2 paper.

@Copryright Ian Barrett 2020

This is a Hamsa I created as a tribute to the NHS and the amazing work they are doing to help us through the Coronavirus pandemic

A Hamsa is a protective Amulet used for thousands of years in several religions.

The eye symbol protects the wearer from harm and brings the wearer good luck and good health

I felt this would be a powerful symbol to protect us in this difficult time

The image is made with black microfine ink pens and watercolour paint.
It is a large A2 image and looks better in person.

If you look closely you will see the circular motif around the eye with shoppers queuing patiently at a socially distanced spacing.
Something representative of these pandemic times.

There are also face mask wearing people around the bottom of the image
Another strong image in these troubled times

I have even included some homemade loaves of bread as this has been a popular activity among people stuck at home in quarantine.

I hope you like it!

PS
I am publishing this image JUST after standing outside my house for the weekly CLAP FOR CARERS so the timing couldnt BE more apposite.

This painting was created by my Daughter Ruby Barrett in 2019 at the start of the Coronavirus lockdown

We were forced to stay at home and I home schooled Ruby as best I can

She created this sign to put in our front window so peope would know there is home schooling going on

it created interest from the neighbours and stayed in place for some time

EVENTUALLY we were able to take the sign down when she went back to school and SOME normality returned.

A3 paper with watercolour paint

@ Ruby Barrett 2022

Watercolour Paint on A4 watercolour paper.

This is a response to the Coronavirus pandemic.
It sums up how I feel about the dastardly virus and how much we NEED it!

This is my design for my 2020 Christmas card.
I had these printed and sent to all my family and friends.

Watercolour paint and acrylic paint and gold dust pigment powder as snow

Watercolour paint and pigment powders on A3 paper.

Painted January 24th 2021

Copyright Ian Barrett 2021

A3 Collaged paper elements and metallic pigment paint

Created Jan 2024

Digitally printed image and coloured paper

A fantasy

This is a special piece I created using the pages of a 300 year old book

I made several versions and each version used a different page from the book

I added a watercolour Day Of The Dead skull and accents of real gold leaf

Created in 2012

An A4 Collage using a variety of textured coloured papers

Created in 2020

(c) Ian Barrett 2021

This is a special piece I created using the pages of a 300 year old book

I made several versions and each version used a different page from the book

I added a watercolour Day Of The Dead skull and accents of real gold leaf

Created in 2012

I provided an acrylic painting as the cover art for an album by US musician John Clark
The album is a collaboration with Harry Waters, son of Pink Floyd legend Roger Waters

The album can be listened to on Amazon Music
https://www.amazon.fr/Where-Will-Glow-Harry-Waters/dp/B0CTWWKMXC

https://johnclark2.bandcamp.com/

This is the cover I created for a 10 Inch lathe cut EP

This was a super project and I really enjoyed combining the collaged image with watercolour paint and then mounting it on real gold leaf

https://www.discogs.com/release/23193122-Arnald-Paul-Transparent-Ideation

This was a great project and for some dear friends in Sweden

Goran and others in the band Men On The Border asked me to create the artwork for their studio album BLACKBIRDS.

I will go into more detail on the cover in a full blog post.
It was a complex process and needs more imagery to understand the project.

The album had a limited vinyl release and is now available to stream from here….

http://www.menontheborder.com/sound-vision

I was honoured to be asked to contribute artwork to a new musical tribute to my Uncle, Syd Barett

Collated by Dario Antonetti an Italian musician and featuring the music of artists from ALL over the World it is a wonderful collection of cover versions.

https://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/products/syd-barrett-love-you-2cd

I was very proud to be asked to create the cover art for a cd album cover.

The band are called 'Men On The Border' and the new album was to be called 'Jumpstart'

The band are very inspired by the music of my Uncle - Syd Barrett and I thought it would be fun to base the image on some imagery from his career.
Roger/Syd played a Fender Esquire guitar  that had been covered in round mirrors.

I had the idea of an flash of electricity shooting out from the centre of the image and then reflecting on these mirrors and shooting all over the page.
I also incorporated something of the colours from the legendary Madcap Laughs cover images - when Syd painted his floorboards orange and blue.
I didn't want this colouration to be TOO obvious so kept the colours quite muted and washed out.

The band have now released the album with this image on the cover - they have just added the JUMPSTART lettering in the centre.

You can visit the bands website and also buy the album ( which is fantastic!) from HERE

You can preview the album HERE
 

I was VERY proud  to be asked to create the cover art for a vinyl 7 Inch single by Swedish Beat band - THE MOST

The EP was called  'Picking Up Speed' and I created the image using a collage technique using ink drawings and cutout photographic images.
I hope you like it!

This is the first vinyl cover I have created and I hope the first of man

The Facebook Page for THE MOST is HERE

An album produced by legendary musician and broadcaster John Cavanagh

Featuring some wonderful instrumental pieces performed by saxophonists Lol Coxhill and Raymond Macdonald

https://www.discogs.com/master/1822232-Lol-Coxhill-Raymond-MacDonald-Morphometry

Winsor And Newton watercolour paint on A3 watercolour paper.

Painted 22nd November 2020

This is available as a limited edition print in the shop

(c) Ian Barrett

A3 Watercolour Painting

An interpretation of a photo I took one Sunday on a trip to Dunham Massey, a local National Trust estate,

Watercolour Paint

A3 Watercolour Painting

Painted in 2016

@ Ian Barrett Art

Who DOESNT love Salvador Dali?

Using black Micron ink, watercolour paint and pigment powders on A4 Card I have created my tribute to the legendary Dali

Painted by Ian Barrett - 2019

Watercolour painting on A4 paper.

Painted 2017

(c) Ian Barrett

A large 40x55cm watercolour.

Painted 2012 by Ian Barrett

(C)  Ian Barrett - All rights reserved

A watercolour painting of the park keepers lodge in Alexandra Park
Moss Side
Manchester

I lived next to this park for many years and visited it MANY MANY times
This is a wonderful building and deserved a painting.

Watercolour Paint on 40cm x 30cm paper

Painted by Ian Barrett - 2016

Winsor And Newton Watercolour Paint on Sakura Micron 01 Black ink

30x42cm Watercolour Paper

Painted by Ian Barrett on 1st March 2014

(C) Ian Barrett 2014

Painted in Winsor And Newton Watercolours on A3 watercolour paper.

From an image taken in Mevagissey, Cornwall on a trip in Summer 2013

(C) Ian Barrett 2014

A richly coloured Watercolour bringing psychedelic colours to the magic of the seaside

A large ( A3) Watercolour.

Acrylics on A4 Card

(C) Ian Barrett 2014

Watercolour on textured A3 Watercolour Paper

2017

A bright watercolour painted from a personal photo taken in Inverary Bay in North West Scotland on a family holiday in roughly 2014

This is a quick little watercolour I created with a collection of shells and other bits and bobs I found on a beach in Devon on a daytrip in Summer 2010

I really like the colours on this one.
One of the most exciting thing about a seaside town is the exciting clash of colours.
You don't go the seaside for sophistication now do you! 

Inspired by Chinese art - this came to me in a dream one night and plays with the power of the sea

A4 Watercolour

A4 Paper - Watercolour and Black ink
 

(C) Ian Barrett 2014

This is an old piece and I cannot recall exactly where the beach is.
Simple and evocative though I feel. 

Weirdly, I painted this picture several years before actually visiting the cove itself.

I found a picture of the cove on the Internet and loved the colours, so painted the picture.

Several years later in 2012 we went on holiday to Corfu and by complete coincidence ended up in an apartment just a few hundred yards from the cove.

it is called The Canal D'Amour as there is a tradition in the town of Siddari that if potential lovers should swim here and they will fall in love...

I have always loved the quaint magic of a Cornish fishing town.

While I have not visited Port Isaac as yet, I know it well and so do you probably as it is the home of Doc Martin - in the ITV comedy drama with Martin Clunes. 

Shells Collected on Teignmouth beach in Devon on a recent family holiday

Painted October 2014

Winsor And Newton Watercolour paint on A3 - 300G/m2 Daler Rowney cold pressed Grain Fin

Micron 04 pen ink on archival paper.

(C) Ian Barrett 2014

An A4 Drawing using a black Sakura Micron 01 archival ink pen and with accents on Winsor And Newton Watercolour ink

 

(C) Ian Barrett 2014

Acrylic Paint on A4 Art Paper

In 2024 this painting has been used as the cover art for an album by the US musician John Clark
The album - called ' Where will We Glow?' features Harry Waters,son of Pink Floyd bass player Roger Waters

https://johnclark2.bandcamp.com/

A VERY old abstract acrylic painting.
Painted around 2007- 2010

A4 paper with acrylic paint

Ian Barrett
Copyright 2022

A4 Acrylic on Board

Using acrylic paint, gold leaf and real sheet music

A3 paper

Painted by Ian Barrett - 2018

An abstract acrylic painting on board - 
A4

Ian Barrett

Painted circa 2010

A4 Acrylic on Canvas
 

The Sunkenkirk Stone Circle in Cumbria.

A hidden megalithic gem

Also known as:

Swinside

Nearest Town:Ulverston (14km ESE)

OS Ref (GB):   SD171882 / Sheet: 96

Latitude:54° 16' 56.92" N

Longitude:   3° 16' 25.86" W

(C) Ian Barrett 2014

This is an acrylic paint on canvas painting of a scene I photographed in the early 2000's when we holidayed in Greece

We visited the magical island of Ithaca one day and this is a tiny fishing village we visited that day

3 colour reduction linocut on A4 paper.

This is an original linocut print

Printed using archival colourfast Caligo Safewash black linocut ink onto White A3 Cartridge card.

Not a numbered edition - an artists proof and signed, named and marked as such in pencil at the bottom of the print.

The magic of a linocut is that EVERY print is unique.
Each print takes some time to complete and each one taken from a linoct will be slightly different.
That is the fun!
(NB - there is a smeared ink section along the bottom of the print, underneath Brian's face.).
These little errors are part of the fun of Linocut prints and give you an idea of their handmade magic.

It is so hard to capture the real magic of original prints in a photo and you will find that the real print looks SO much better.
The contrast and textures of the ink look fantastic in person but can't be captured in a photograph.

One of a Series Of ten Linocut images created to complement the 'JUMPSTART' CD COVER for the Swedish Band  ' Men On The Border'

A3 - Winsor And Newton Watercolor Paper

Linocut with Winsor And Newton Watercolour paint

A4 Linocut Print

Artists Proof

Caligo Safewash Linocut ink on A4 card.

Created by Ian Barrett - 2017

This is the VERY first test print linocut using a technique new to my art.
I have used a single block but a two colour rainbow roll.
This means that the ink roller is loaded with TWO colours of ink at the same time and then rollered on together.

As well as the green and blue linocut colours ( Caligo Safewash) I have used little orange watercolour paint for the Kingfisher's breast feathers

(c) Ian Barrett June 2016

 

This is a black A3 paper linocut print that has been decorated with spontaneous Watercolour paint effects

(C) Ian Barrett
Painted 2014

This is a black A3 paper linocut print that has been decorated with a spontaneous Watercolour paint effects

(C) Ian Barrett
Painted 2014

This is an original linocut print

Printed using archival colourfast Caligo Safewash black linocut ink onto White A3 Cartridge card.

Not a numbered edition - an artists proof and signed, named and marked as such in pencil at the bottom of the print.

This was inspired by the magic of Autumn.
I sat down with a pad of paper and scribbled a few ideas - and worked on the idea of incorporating some of the natural wonders of the forest into a mystical face.
I hope you like it!

The magic of a linocut is that EVERY print is unique.
Each print takes some time to complete and each one taken from a linoct will be slightly different.
That is the fun!
.
It is so hard to capture the real magic of original prints in a photo and you will find that the real print looks SO much better.
The contrast and textures of the ink look fantastic in person but can't be captured in a photograph.

Until I make the print and peel back the paper I don't know exactly what the print will look like..
 

I am a professional jeweller and also visual artist.

I have been creating art all my life, and I love what I do..

I work mainly in watercolour paint and linocut, and my work has sold all around the World.
As well as my own work I am also creating  CD cover artwork for several respected bands.

Black Linocut with watercolour

May 2016

Ian Barrett

Painted from a photo taken at Dunham Massey - a National Trust house and gardens in Cheshire England
It was a wonderful Autumn day and the sun shone through the forest in a magical way.

I created my vision of the scene using watercolour paint and metallic pigment powders on A4 cartridge paper

Painted by Ian Barrett - 2020

Nothing is more evocative of Autumn than a tree full of richly coloured leaves in their last gasp before falling........... 

A fantasy view of Callanish the Neolithic stone site on the Isle Of Lewis
I am yet to visit Callanish but it has long been on my bucket list

Inspired by my love of Julian Cope and his obsession with the Neolithic and Megalithic

Black ink and Winsor and Newton watercolour paint
A3

Winsor And Newton Watercolour paint on A3 - 300G/m2 Daler Rowney cold pressed Grain Fin

A large watercolour image painted from my own photograph of a stunning sunset over Salford Quays

 

A vivid fantasy.... 

A4 Watercolour painting

Painted 2015

A4 watercolour paper.

Fine black ink and Windsor And Newton watercolour paint. 

2017

(C) IAN BARRETT 2020

Painted November 6th 2014

Winsor And Newton Watercolour paint on A3 - 300G/m2 Daler Rowney cold pressed Grain Fin

(C) -Ian Barrett 2014

Painted Circa 2005

Painted circa 2005

A4 - Watercolour

An Autumn feast found at Alderley Edge, Cheshire - images created and digitally manipulated - October 2013

Ian Barrett