Barrie Watson

Barrie, is born and bred in the North East of England. Originally from Murton, he's lived in Sunderland for the last 30 years.

He's always been creative but only recently discovered a love of painting after a career as a hairstylist, then as a chef, winning a place in the BBC Master Chef final in 1997. He went on to work in London's Savoy hotel and eventually opened his own bistro in his hometown. It wasn't until the first lockdown of the pandemic that he took up painting as a hobby and discovered a new passion. Now he paints whenever he can and has developed a unique style, creating loose relaxed original abstracts using acrylic paint with gold leaf gilding to give a 3D effect, and in his words "add a little bling".

"I use clips from old books to create collage, adding interest and a nod to the past. The loose use of the paint helps create lots of emotion and drama."

For more information email

barriewatsonart@yahoo.com