2021 · South Shields Open Call
Exhibition participation and the beginning of a growing North East gallery presence.
BARRIE WATSON
Artist, maker and lifelong creative based in Sunderland. Barrie’s work is driven by bold colour, experimentation, collage and the belief that creativity grows when you are prepared to venture beyond the familiar.
THIS IS ME
Barrie remembers wanting to make things from childhood. That creative instinct first became a career in hairdressing, before another unexpected turn took him to the final of BBC MasterChef in 1997 and into a high-end catering business, café and bistro.
Painting remained present throughout. Largely self-taught, Barrie continued experimenting and developed an approach that refuses to stay inside one genre. His paintings can incorporate old book pages, photographs, silk, tartan, denim and other collage elements alongside bold painted forms.
Rather than working as a literal portrait painter, Barrie can translate a family, place, town, memory or story into a personal work through collage and abstraction.
CAREER & EXHIBITIONS
Exhibition participation and the beginning of a growing North East gallery presence.
Work shown across consecutive editions, alongside a Luxe Magazine feature in 2022.
Continued regional exhibition programme and representation through North East venues.
Barrie lists his role as Director from 2025 to date.
Projects listed by the studio include M The Galleries, Newcastle Building Society and a 3.5 × 2 metre commission for Northland Properties in Canada.
“Nothing ventured,
nothing gained.”