Harwich resident Barbara Quinn-Grasso is a retired 35-year veteran CT art educator.  Born and raised in Plymouth, MA, she earned her B.A. in Art at Emmanuel College in Boston, and her M.S. in Art Education and Sixth Year in Administration from CCSU.   An avid plein air painter, Barbara works in pastel, oil and watercolor, recording her impressions of the Cape landscape, her gardens, and natural objects. 

“My earliest memories involve not just family members, but our place in the surrounding woods and fields.  I have always felt drawn to nature, aware from an early age of the interconnectedness of people, animals, plants, and trees.  As a child I would often move my bed alongside my window, and spent hours with my elbows on the windowsill, staring through the screen out into the black night of our yard and the woods, listening to the sounds of nighttime.  It’s natural that I prefer to work on site, and love particularly working with pastels, which I appreciate for their richness of color, buttery feel, and direct application.  I feel at peace working on site, and hope to convey in my work the warmth and beauty of the natural world.”