- Barbara Tyler Ahlfield
An established artist, and renowned American Fashion Illustrator Barbara Tyler Ahlfield, makes larger than life realistic portraits that have a classical quality to them, with a contemporary twist streaming into a fantasy-like wonder. Skillfully executed and deeply thoughtful, her extravagant settings bring her audience into a lavish and contemplative world. She works with a variety of media, including graphite pencil combined with India ink line, colored pencil, watercolor, gouache, and oils. Luminous colors and luscious brushwork add a lively sense of nostalgia coupled with her acute attention to detail. The textures she creates with paint seem to emerge from the surface with radiant
clarity. Ahlfield uses natural elements to complement the essence of her subjects, creating an overall transcendental experience for her audience.
This last year Ahlfield partnered with her daughter Alexandra Ahlfield and embarked on a new path of creativity, launching a lifestyle fashion brand Sisumoi. The brand promotes the ideal of fine art being incorporated into everyday aspects of life. Her signature paintings are brought into a new atmosphere through clothing garments and everyday accessories. Her background as a lead fashion illustrator for Lord & Taylor has propelled her into new heights for this line and sharing an
awareness that beauty starts with one's commitment to their passions and truth. Ahlfield's work promises to entice the eye with flowing garments, intricate lined, and laced patterns that require keen attention and applied accessories with a quiet presence. Every aspect of her work has a role, gracing her audience with the luxury of beauty.
Apart from her classical environments that are telling of a bygone era that accentuated the quality of life, she chooses settings that bring each painting to life with naturalistic elements, and details such as the change of a season, or charisma in a city. These details are often a reflection of her subjects; her models are often thrilled to discover the backgrounds Ahlfield has imagined and painted to be a highly intuitive reflection of their deepest desires and intimate thoughts.
"Jewel with Nikki and Annie" honors the legacy of her friend in life, Jewel. A woman who left behind a great deal of an impact through her dedication to animal welfare. A hyperdetailed feathered hat mirrors her elegance and innate connection to wildlife. Partnered with her charismatic pets, this portrait is signature to Ahlfield's cool and misty tonal range, and even with surreal abstractions as the background, these portraits appear breathtakingly real retaining a resplendent glow. The soft, serene atmosphere she creates with this portrait of purple allows her subject to be receding into a dreamy haze. The fragmented placement of each object in her compositions increases the drama and tension of her subjects.