COMPLIMENTARY COPY
Published Weekly By Joel Sater Publications www.antiquesandauctionnews.net
VOL. 44, NO. 33 FRIDAY AUGUST 16, 2013
Barbara Strawser: A Folk Life By Karl Pass
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Barbara Strawser stands next to one of her recent flower garden inspired paintings.
“I want to do a painting with this scarecrow,” said Barbara. Gardening inspires the artist. Strawser has extensive flower and vegetable gardens, including 20 apple trees. “The original wooden crow from the top of the pole (partially shown on left) is in the sick bay and needs repaired,” she said. Made in the early 1970s by her ex-husband Dan Strawser, a woodcarver currently living in Maine, the crow has been in every garden Barbara has tended, when she lived in Stouchsburg, in Brownstown, and for the past 27 years, in Schaefferstown.
olk artist Barbara Strawser has been painting for most of her life. The third generation selftaught artist and mother of three was born in West Reading, Berks County, but for the last 27 years she has called Lebanon County her home. She lives in a large Victorian-era house just off the square in historic Schaefferstown. Primarily noted for her variouslythemed folk paintings, including local farm scenes and gardens, Barbara is also known for her furniture decorating, cooking, baking and extensive vegetable and flower gardens. The folk life is a way of being for Barbara, and its roots run deeply in her family. The daughter of June and Walter Gottshall, both 92 years old and folk artists themselves, Barbara has been influenced by her Pennsylvania German heritage. Barbara’s great aunt was Hattie Klapp Brunner (1889-1982) a well-known antiques dealer and folk artist from Reinholds, Pa. She is referred to today as the Pennsylvania German Grandma Moses. “I can remember taking a painting by my great aunt under my arm to class one day to show my teacher in art class,” she recalled. “The painting was of my grandparents’ house.” Her grandparents were Luke and Fannie Gottshall. Luke Gottshall (1899-1993) was known for his wood carvings, namely horsedrawn wagons, as well as his paintings and his cut-out fabric collages. His wife, Fannie Klapp Gottshall (1891-1976), was Hattie’s sister and made fabric birds. “My great aunt’s (antiques) shop was called The Tulip Shop,” Barbara recalled. “Tulips have always been important to me.” One of Barbara’s favorite recent works is a four-paneled painting depicting Pennsylvania German scenes and images. The first is an interpretation of a fraktur motif of potted tulips; the second, a farmer working in a field with deep red-oxide earth; the third, a panel from a paintdecorated chest; and the fourth, a stone farmhouse with gardens. In the late 1970s, five of her large paintings were including in an exhibition at Kutztown University, Pa. The show served as an instrumental moment in her career. “It was important in my mind to be accepted because I was self-taught and had not gone to college,” she stated. The paintings were all later sold to Boscov’s Department Store. Strawser’s work has since been included in numerous exhibitions. One of her early customers was the late Earl Jamison, the founder of Peddler’s Village in Lahaska, Pa. Today, much of Strawser’s work is done on a commission basis, and she does a select number of shows a year. Readers can contact Barbara Strawser at 717-949-2374 or on the web at www.strawser art.com/barbara. Her gallery is open by appointment only.
The galloping horse painting was one of a number of equestrian themed pieces done for an event at an animal rescue organization in Malvern, Pa.
“I may teach some art classes here,” stated Barbara while standing in this open area of her garden/classroom. She has taught in the past. Another project of hers is a Pennsylvania German cookbook. “I’ve always collected recipes, and making a cookbook is in the back of my mind,” she said.
This painting depicts four Pennsylvania German themed images in each panel.