Josie Bahar
About
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Creating shapes and figures in clay and playing with colour were very happy times for me as a child, and I feel so lucky to have been able to continue to this day.
I studied mime at the London Mime Centre and then moved to Venice, Italy where I studied life drawing at the Accademia Di Belle Arti. I learnt to make and paint carnival masks in the traditional way, started a small mask business with my partner and sold them to shops around the city. That was a very creative and colourful time, Venice was fun, inspirational and incredibly beautiful. I also studied acting at L’Avogaria school of Commedia Dell' arte theatre and later joined their company.
Eventually after nearly 7 years I moved back to London and opened a Mask shop in Camden Lock Market. I created many different masks in clay and then took plaster casts to create them in papier-mâché, making masks for all occasions including Stanley Kubrick’s film, Eyes Wide Shut, TV, Hemmingway’s Travels with Michael Palin, Theatre productions, parties and Objet D'art. I closed the shop in 2000 to spend more time with my three children. I continued to paint when it was possible to escape into my imagination.
We then moved to Bath
I discovered stone carving a few years later and loved the resistance in the stone after having worked for years modelling clay, I am passionate about this medium, a real contrast to anything I have done before and am finding this experience very rewarding. I am exploring different types of stone and their different strengths and weaknesses, and have been exhibiting with The Cotswold Sculptors Association. I am loving having more time to paint and am constantly inspired by the natural world. And finally I also create mosaics and teach monthly workshops. This is another art form that I find very enjoyable.
Thank you for looking at my work, and if you are interested in commissioning a piece of work, please get in touch via the contact form