In her work, Esther Barr strives to express not only the beauty of animals and their environments, but of their interaction as well. With each piece she tries to tell a story that goes beyond a single moment in time. Her inspiration comes from what lies beneath the image: a creature driven to act by intense instinct, or perhaps playfulness, the subtle effects of nature, or its awesome power.

Esther grew up in the quiet seaside town of Marblehead, Massachusetts. She studied illustration at Rhode Island School of Design, and experimental animation at California Institute of the Arts. For over twenty years she has designed and animated special effects such as water, fire, dust, smoke, wind, and light for film and television at many studios, including Disney, Paramount, Hanna Barbera, Amblimation and DreamWorks Animation.

Esther works primarily in copper using the ancient art of repoussé. Work begins with rough sketches that are transferred to thin sheets of metal, usually copper. Next, the designs are raised and refined from both sides into relief with handmade and customized tools, using a combination of repousse, engraving, and embossing techniques. The pieces are then finished with a variety of unique patinas, and finally sealed for protection.

Recently Esther has begun experimenting with torch-fused glass enamel. This creates a rich variety of colors and textures not available with patinas alone, adding extra depth and dimension.

She also produces limited edition reliefs. For these, designs are hand cut into linoleum or wood plates, which are then drawn through a press with sheet metal, embossing the relief. From this point on however, each piece becomes unique as Esther adds extra detail, texture and form directly (repoussé,) and an individual chemical or fire patina.

It is hard not to notice how Esther’s background in animation greatly influences her repoussé. Motion is an integral part of her style that she surprisingly expresses in metal.

Copper Repoussé

Limited Edition Relief