Neighbor Featured Artist #14: Barbarabara "Jake" Bible carter

Watercolors Come Naturally to "Jake"

There is an irresistible quality to modesty. Such charm is radiated by those talented individuals who seem genuinely surprised by the gifts they possess. They seem to count their blessings with every new creation, which adds an element to their creativity that attracts others to it. When Barbara Bible Carter sat down to talk with me, and announced that she didn’t think there was anything about her that readers would find interesting, she was really saying that her paintings told her story better than words could. A small, elegant woman, with a serenity often illuminated with a bright smile, she demonstrates a gentility that is only enhanced by the accent that speaks to her rural Greene County roots. She is an artist/neighbor in the deepest sense of the term.
In declaring herself a person without formal education, Barbara claims the pride of place that is shared by many mountain folk. It obviously surprised her to be the subject of an art column. “I’m just a little snot-nose kid out of the holler in East Tennessee,” she says. Her family had an old grocery in Bible’s Chapel and the house where she was born was without electricity. Her mother, she remembers, always made sure that there were crayons around for drawing, while her father supplied her basic identity. “I sign all my paintings ‘Jake” because that was his nickname for me.” From her earliest memory, she noticed and found beauty in the minute details of nature. She remembers walking up a path to her mother’s garden and being captivated by the tiny flowers she saw along the way. Drawing was part of her growing up, with inspiration coming from such simple sources as the Sunday comics. “I’ve always noticed the differences between light and shadow,” she says. “I’m an intuitive painter - rather than making a statement or telling a story, my paintings are an expression of what looks right to me. I’m not real big on painting by the rules.”
The Bibles moved closer to Greeneville when Barbara was 7, and her artistic ability found an outlet in school. “We didn’t have much in the way of art teachers but I would draw different subjects relating to what we were learning.” That she would one day exhibit her paintings and win awards in competition was unimaginable at the time but she recalls setting personal challenges for herself. “When I was 10, I remember sitting on a rock in the creek and seeing the reflection of the sunset. I told myself I wanted to be able to paint it just like I saw it.” An aunt who worked in oils and copied well-known works for the enjoyment of herself and friends was an ongoing source of inspiration. “She painted well into her nineties. I painted in oils for a while but found myself attracted to watercolors and happier with what I did.” This choice of medium was a challenge in and of itself. Watercolor is generally regarded as the most difficult of the painting arts to master, and Barbara was unsatisfied with her first efforts. “Then I got the chance to do some work with a teacher named Anita Rhoney, who set me on the right track with some basic techniques. With watercolor, you can’t just paint over a mistake.”
As an adult, Barbara continued both to practice her creativity and to gain knowledge and experience wherever possible. While living in both Greenwich, Connecticut, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, she took advantage of the urban opportunities to attend art classes. Upon returning to East Tennessee, as often happens, she found that her most valuable instruction was no further away than Johnson City in the person of local legend Urban Bird. “He teaches in a very casual way, and his blunt, honest criticism really makes sense to me,” says Barbara. “He has such a good eye for seeing and correcting design flaws. I remember a piece I was working on where he said ‘well, you sure didn’t get that mill wheel right’. So I turned it into an old tire instead.” Bird has said of Barbara that she has progressed faster than most of his students. She began exhibiting in 2004 and has been both pleased and amazed to do better in competition than some of her fellow students whose work she particularly admires. Gallery director James-Ben Stockton, who has shown Barbara’s work for several years, attributes her success not just to good training but to her innate skill for making it ‘look right’. “Her gift for understanding light and shadow is the key,” he says. “She really loves the contrast between the two. That’s what raises her paintings far above the ordinary.”
With time and dedication, Barbara feels she’s beginning to hit her stride with her paintings. “I like to do everything fast,” she says. “That’s why watercolor and I get along so well.” This same sense of ‘making it look right’ also translates to her other love, interior design. “When I remember growing up in a home without electricity, it amazes me to have a 17 room house to decorate now. My friends all want me to help with interior design at their homes. Now remember, I’m no socialite! But I really enjoyed having a home economics teacher come by with her students to see how I did my house for Christmas.” With a stack of painting projects waiting for her, she has no lack of creativity to express. For now, Barbara works from photographs but looks forward to painting in the open air when the chance comes. “It took me a long time to know who I was. Watercolor was a major step in helping me with the times when I didn’t feel like I could do anything. It’s the joy of my life. I’d paint all the time if I could. I love the light and shadow. That’s the whole thing.”
Barbara Bible “Jake” Carter’s work is available locally and displayed with great satisfaction and regional pride at James-Ben: Studio and Gallery Art Center.