Barbara Gallagher was one of the South's most celebrated figurative painters. The people in her paintings merge from many different cultures and backgrounds. As a young woman, she lived in Venezuela for nearly two years and was greatly influenced by the intense Latin colors.

Her paintings grace the homes of many Southern families and have been featured through the years in SOUTHERN ACCENTS and other magazines. Her art is included in dozens of corporate and museum collections, as well as in many private collections including George and Barbara Bush's.

Barbara received her art education at the University of Alabama and had a lifetime of achievement working in behalf of the arts and in creating an acclaimed body of work. She reveled in creating mysterious people caught up in their fantasy worlds. During her career, she taught art for more than 18 years before devoting herself completely to her own paintings. Barbara claimed that she never had in idea of what will evolve on the canvas when she began to paint. She didn't sketch ahead of time; she just let the flow come; the "creative process" just happen.

Critics admire the dreamlike quality of the paintings and the way in which they are drawn back, time and again, to look into the eyes of the figures. Although Barbara suffered a stroke which paralyzed her on one side of her body, she returned to her studio ... taught herself to paint with her left hand, then amazingly regained complete use of her right hand through the persistency of daily creativity.

In 2005, Barbara suffered another stroke and it was determined by her family that she should close her gallery (Green Garden Gallery) after 30 years in business. Although her health continued to dwindle, Barbara continued to fight, and paint, up to the time of her death. Barbara was a lover-of-people, understanding of their love for life, and this quality is exposed in every work of art her hands mastered. She is missed terribly by her family, close friends, fans of her work, and all of those that came to know her.