Barbara Bash

Barbara Bash is a calligrapher, illustrator, author, and performance artist.

An artist interested in communication in all its forms, Barbara studied dance and drawing before immersing herself in the study of calligraphy. During a successful career as a graphic artist and teacher of book arts, first in the California Bay Area and then at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, she collaborated with storytellers, dancers, and musicians in performance. Her study of Dharma Art with Chogyam Trungpa contributed to her understanding of eastern principles as applied to western art forms.

She studies the natural world through writing and illustrating books for children. The research for her books has taken her all over the world and opened her to varied practices of illustrated journal keeping. She has written and illustrated a number of books on natural history for adults and children, including Desert Giant: The World of the Saguaro Cactus,  Tree of Life: The World of the African Baobab, In the Heart of the Village: The World of the Indian Banyan Tree, and Urban Roosts: Where Birds Nest in the City. She teaches workshops in illustrated journaling, expressive brush calligraphy, and communication processes and is the author of True Nature: An Illustrated Journal of Four Seasons in Solitude. 

Her classes create a space for everyone to make their mark in the world, including Buddhist centers, corporate settings, elementary schools, prisons, and mental health facilities.

View her illustrated journal at her blog True Nature, barbarabash.blogspot.com