About Barbara and the IACC
About Barbara and the IACC
Find out now about Barbara Jacobs and the IACC.
Originally from Minnesota, in 2015 Barbara moved from living in Massachusetts to Sebastopol, CA. Her father, William Saltzman, was a well known Midwestern painter, sculptor and stained-glass artist. Barbara enjoyed growing up in an environment rich in color and surrounded by a variety of fine art. In that environment, she experienced many opportunities to explore a wide variety of art materials.
Barbara’s formal artistic education includes studies at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy, and the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied with Adja Yunkers and David Hockney. She studied fine arts at the University of Minnesota, receiving her Bachelor of Arts in studio art with a concentration in painting and printmaking.
Barbara has a noteworthy design background. In addition to her personal artwork, since 1986 Barbara has helped to create supportive environments for a great number of clients in their homes and workplaces. She continues her ongoing practice as an architectural color consultant for “long distance” as well as “on-site” consultations.
From 1986 to 2006, Barbara specialized in creating artistic decorative finishes and murals for residential and commercial clients. Media she used included glazes and Venetian plasters applied in a variety of techniques. Always an artist, Barbara’s fascination with color and color-mixing continues. During that time she also developed a line of 32 colors in “full spectrum” paints—using no black or gray in any of the color mixtures—that she named “EcoHues.” These unique paint colors became very popular among her clients. The designation “Full Spectrum Paints” originated with Ellen Kennon, a long-time friend and designer. It was through collaboration with Ellen that the “EcoHues” paint colors became possible.
About Barbara’s unique design projects
Barbara has held a long-time fascination with textiles, traditional and modern surface design, and rug design. It was through the inspiration from these interests that she created and developed the original series of custom, hand-knotted Tibetan rugs of her own design, which she called “Silk Road Weaves.” In addition, she carried this inspiration even further. Even at this time, she continues to explore using her original designs for other textiles and printed patterns.
About being an IACC Accredited Designer
Barbara was fully accredited in 2000 by the IACC (International Association of Color Consultants). Her work has been published internationally through that organization. She is acknowledged as an expert in the field of applied color psychology and supportive color design. Barbara has also been published in, and interviewed by, a variety of print and online national professional and shelter media. Subjects of these articles and interviews include supportive color design, color trends, and selecting colors for interiors and architecture.
Artist’s Statement
I enjoy working in a variety of media, whether in small scale work or in larger, more complex pieces. Favorite materials include pastels, some water media, colored pencils, paper-and-ink, and various texture media like Venetian plaster and organic materials, including even sometimes found objects. Photography and digital work also play a role in many pieces. Some might call it “inconsistent”…but frankly, what I enjoy most is to explore combinations and find out about different materials, and see where they lead.
I typically draw Inspiration from geology, history, mythology, organic matter, and of course life experiences and current events. Other inspirations stem from historical, traditional cultures’ uses of color and pattern in surface design, and the symbolism and roles of those elements in their worlds.
My work tends to not be too literal, but rather I prefer to leave quite a bit to the viewer’s imagination. Furthermore, I always try to offer an unspoken (or sometimes, literally, spoken) invitation to the viewer to participate in the “story” from his or her own personal perspective of what is happening in a particular work. I can appreciate the serious side, but also can enjoy injecting my sense of humor or irony into the subjects and style.
I’m very happy at this time to explore my personal artwork in more depth and breadth. Please enjoy this view to find out more about it.
What’s New
Most recently, Barbara is author of the new adult coloring book that is “not only for adults…” called Windows to Imagination, Coloring Your Way to Stress Relief and Meditation—a coloring book + color journal.
Windows to Imagination – front cover. You can order this book through