The Artist Studio to close this month after 12 years downtown

There’s a saying Judy Barks-Westrich loves: “The best part of being an artist is having one’s imagination for a boss, but the worst part is paying the rent.”

That’s one factor in her decision to close The Artist Studio, her working studio and gallery at 38 A N. Main St. in downtown Cape Girardeau, where she’s created and taught since 2005.

She also wants some time to pursue her own artwork, she said. She’s devoted 45 years to teaching, first in the public-school system and later at her studio, where she’s conducted 80 workshops in acrylics, watercolors and oil paints.

“I thought, that’s a good deed,” she said. “I’m proud to have been in the arts, in the public eye. Not that every day’s been perfect, but maybe now it’s time to be for myself.”

Barks-Westrich said she’ll remain open to the public through Oct. 28, but today will be her last participation in First Friday.

A view of artwork by Judy Barks-Westrich, owner and artist of The Artist Studio, on Thursday in downtown Cape Girardeau. The studio will have its last First Friday on Friday, and will close later this month.Andrew J. Whitaker

“I haven’t counted how many First Fridays I’ve participated in, but it’s a lot,” she said.

Several of her paintings are marked down already, she said, and later in the month she plans to have another sale to move some equipment, accessories and supplies. She’ll announce it on the Artist Studio’s Facebook page, she said, since she doesn’t have a firm date yet for that sale.

Barks-Westrich said she’s always preferred to work in the abstract, and to work with textures.

“My whole approach to teaching was through design,” she said.

She taught everything, she said — painting, drawing, ceramic sculpture, weaving, and so on. But the approach, even when she taught portraiture or figure drawing, was a sort of design by way of abstract.

A view of artwork by Judy Barks-Westrich, owner and artist of The Artist Studio, on Thursday in downtown Cape Girardeau. The studio will have its last First Friday on Friday, and will close later this month.

“To me, that was more creative” than a realism approach, she said.

Barks-Westrich works in three main avenues, she said: weaving, larger canvases, and what she calls her “minis.”

Her weaving is off-loom, she said, and incorporates different fibers with found objects.

One woven piece, “Leather and Lace,” is strongly black, with tangles of dark-toned lace and leather strips brought together with a cascade of metal washers tied into the loose ends.

It was named by her husband, Barks-Westrich said, and inspired by the Harley-Davidson motorcycle they once owned.

Judy Barks-Westrich, owner and artist of The Artist Studio, poses for a photo at her studio Thursday in downtown Cape Girardeau.Andrew J. Whitaker

Her larger canvases are more of a statement piece, she said, and she likes to “put on and take away” while creating.

“I plan nothing; it’s all spontaneous,” she said. “The only thing I plan is the color. I just let the creative process go and then it just happens — that’s the fun of it. Then in the end, voila, there it is. Hopefully.”

The minis tend to have either a floral or a landscape feel to them, but are expressive rather than representative, Barks-Westrich said.

She tries to have several colors and styles available, she said.

They’re smaller, so they’re a little easier to own, she said, and they’re a completely different approach from her larger paintings. She uses a palette knife, not a brush, for the smaller pieces, most of which are smaller than one foot square, framed, on easels, ready to go, she said.

As to what her plans are after the studio closes, she said, “I plan to paint.”

She’s sold her work to clients in Georgia, Virginia and Illinois, she said, and it seems like a good time to pursue more of that.

When the studio goes, she said, she can’t lie and say she won’t shed a tear, because she will, but the highlight for her?

“I can honestly say I did it,” she said. “I’m very proud of that.”

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

38A N. Main St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.