"Satin Sheets to Lie On" 11x14

"Dust In The Wind" 22x28

"In Golden Pond" 11x14

"Dance Rehearsal" 20x20

"Me and My Shadow"

"Spring Palette"

"Mahogany"

"Cornerstone Conundrum (Adam)" and Me

"The Caretaker, 20x20, Oil

"Caught Up In The Moment"

"Serenity"

"Jezebel"

"The Grass is Greener"

"My Little Pony"

"Brass Command, Morgan foal"

Welcome to my blog! My name is Barbara A. Snyder, a full time artist, from a little borough in south eastern PA. I have no formal education in art, it's just something I've always done. I don't like the term self-taught, but rather think of it as something one's born with, similar to those who are naturally good with numbers or music. I seem to have been born with a paint brush in hand and an intense love of animals, particularly dogs and horses. Break that down further, you'll find I specialize in both Rough and Smooth Collies and Shelties. In horses, I tend to gravitate to Mustangs and Morgans, buckskin or dun being the color of choice. They say paint what you know and love and that is precisely what I do, although I have been branching out a bit to include the human form, which is something of a personal challenge for me. Oil is my medium of choice for my paintings, I love everything about them. I use acrylics for my wood and metal, one of a kind items. Watercolors scare me, but I think they are an incredibly beautiful medium, and I may take some local classes, in the hopes of becoming more familiar with them.

When I'm not painting, I enjoy spending time with my own four collies, two smooth and two rough. I show occasionally and have one smooth champion, and one smooth with 9 pts. I'm currently showing my tri rough in Rally Obedience, and the my sable rough is my loving couch potato. In addition, I have two black cats and my adored if somewhat devilish lilac point Siamese. Although I don't ride anymore, which is something I've decided to remedy, I do spend time at the stables with my daughter and her two Morgans. I find it incredibly relaxing and cleansing to the spirit to be with horses.

I am open to custom work, either from photos of your own pets, or ideas you may have for a specific painting. The latter is something I've only recently been doing, where a client contacts me with an idea, I work on some rough sketches, and finally put the final idea on the canvas. To date, I have not done prints, although it is something I am kicking around.