Born a child of winter in St. Paul, Minnesota, Barb, from the age of five, lived with her grandparents in a flat on Ramsey Hill—the same neighborhood where Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald once lived. Her surroundings were humble and life was hard. Her parents suffered from the ravages of alcoholism and were absent from her life for the most part.

The disease of alcoholism hit Barbara in her early teens causing her premature departure from high school and a marriage entered into too soon. She had four children and was divorced with no means of support. She struggled to survive as a single parent. Barbara's final blow came from the death of a daughter from brain cancer. She hit bottom—spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Alcoholism had had its way with her.

The clouds parted and Barbara knew a brief moment of clarity on a November day and made a decision to live. She surrendered and rested her case against the world and God. Her passion to self-destruct was replaced by a passion to create. Her paintings show images of her past life, drawn from the memories of the characters in bars where she received her education on the seamy side of life.

Barbara is a self-taught artist and has shown her work at the Seattle Pike Place Market, boutiques in Duluth, MN, Southport, NC, and Wilmington, NC. Her work can be seen at the UNC-W Randall Library in Wilmington .

She lives a life of sobriety today in Wilmington with her husband Bob, an accomplished jazz musician. She cares for her two lovely grandchildren, Casey and Caitlin.