Amber Cox

By: centraljersey.com
BORDENTOWN CITY – Local full-time painter shared his love of art with students in the Art Club at St. Mary School on Monday.
Al Barker, of Prince Street, has been a city resident since 1970 and a full-time painter for the past 36 years.
With a background in academics it is no surprise that Mr. Barker began to use his art skills in the classroom. He taught both secondary and post-secondary students.
"In my teaching I started to draw to illustrate things to the students," he said. "I used to put the stuff on the blackboard and they (the students) would tell me to leave it on there because they liked to look at it. That’s how I got started."
Before Mr. Barker’s presentation to the students he said he wasn’t sure what to expect because he didn’t want to just "go in there and start to paint and have them watch."
"I really don’t know what to expect because I will pitch my presentation after I kind of get a feel for what they’re looking for," he said. "I’d like to talk to them, find out their perception of art it, maybe get some ideas of what their future endeavors might be. I can’t say its going to be done on the fly, but because I taught for so long I can get a feel for what the group is like and then I’m going to move in that direction."
Mr. Barker gave the students the same advice that he received when he was an eighth-grade student, saying that it’s very difficult to do what he does for a living.
"My suggestion to you guys, if you really want to become painters, go to school to be whatever your second interest may be because then you could have a real job and paint on the side," he said. "You do that to the point where you’re making some money and can quit the job. You always need to have a job that you can fall back on so that you can earn a living."
He also explained to the students that in order to be a painter they have to be very self-disciplined. They have to work for it every day, even when they don’t feel like it.
Mr. Barker showed the students how he gets started on a painting. He explained that he drives around until he finds a scene that impresses him and he will do a number of study sketches or take photographs.
His overall end product is designed from the study sketches or photographs. He can also produce more than one painting from one photograph by simply changing sky color or where a tree is placed. Mr. Barker also had a number of the students come up and help him with different parts of the painting. He showed them his technique and explained to them the difference between painting something close or far and how to differentiate between soft and warm colors.
Mr. Barker told the students that he never had any professional training in painting, but that because he really wanted to do it, he could.
"You can do anything you want in this world but it’s how badly you want to do it," he said. "I wanted to become a painter. Every night I would go home and paint. One year I painted every one of my Christmas cards. I painted like 100 Christmas cards but every night I would make myself paint five."