Barbara arrived in Sydney Australia in 1974 from NZ to further her career as a commercial artist. Her career however did not fully emerge until many years later as a graphic designer and after completing a Bachelor of Visual Communication from the University of South Australia in 1990.
From the age of 21 to 28, Barbara travelled extensively around Australia with her husband and young family. She used this period in her life as an opportunity to self educate and expand on her innate talent for art through practical experimentation, painting the landscape of outback Australia.
Upon completion of her Bachelor of Visual Communication in 1990 she then went on to set up one of Australia’s most prominent graphic design studios which specialised in wine label branding. She was a dominant force in the Australian Wine Industry through the success of her “off the shelf” Australiana concepts, for which her company JUST ADD WINE became renown. Her main claim to fame throughout the twenty years she ran the business was the international phenomenon [yellow tail], which took the world by storm with its revolutionary and overtly Australian style branding. This changed the face of the Wine Industry over night.
In 2005 she was a central region finalist in Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year, for her contribution to the success of the [yellow tail] brand.
In 2013 Barbara returned to study at the Adelaide Central School of Art, and is in the process of completing a Bachelor of Visual Art.