Artist of the Week Will Barnett: The Artist Behind The Athlete

The accolades of many male post-graduates line the shelves of glass cabinets and come in three shades: gold, silver or bronze. For senior Will Barnett, however, his trophies vary from shades of turquoise blue to vibrant red to soft grey and they line the walls of the art studio. Barnett does not define his success by goals or touchdowns; his success takes the more abstract form of art and painting."The fact that he’s an artist breaks the stereotype of PGs (post graduates) being athletes because he has a different thought process from most of us. It is interesting to see him work in the studio rather than on the field," said senior Kyle Robinson.Barnett was creative throughout his childhood and showed innate artistic ability."We started out at a camp called ‘Art Town’ when we were little kids," said senior Zach Barnett, Will Barnett’s brother. "I knew Will had a great artistic ability because he was always better than everyone else at the camp."Barnett’s hobby showed particular promise when he channeled his talents and took his first art class his sophomore year in high school at St. Paul’s, an all-boys private day school in Louisiana."I never really took a real or legitimate art class until my sophomore year when my high school required me to take an art," Barnett said. "I remember during the course there was this one moment when I really started to appreciate my time and effort. I had painted a landscape from my school’s campus. It took me ten weeks to paint and when it came out really well it was almost spiritual because I was so close to it for so long."Barnett’s experience with art in school made an impression on his career as an artist. He began to explore and expand his talents by taking more art courses."I had the option to keep going and so I started painting more at school. I was teaching myself and learning as I went. I found that the more classes I took the more my appreciation developed," said BarnettBarnett’s high school art teacher and mentor, Gerald Ancar, was "a guy I’d ask for help sometimes," said Barnett. "He would push me to strive on my own and he only taught when I produced good work. He gave his opinion but never really showed me what to do. He wanted me to figure it out on my own.""Everything that he did was better than everyone else’s. I think the way he could pick up and paint and draw something without having to think about it, just a kind of natural thing for him," said Zach Barnett. "Throughout high school Will’s art just kept getting better and better and everyone recognized his talents and told him that art is what he really should focus on."By his senior year, Barnett began to paint folk art pieces which spoke to his Louisiana heritage."I painted shrimps, oysters, crabs-- they all related to the southern wildlife. I would look at the colors, and, by blowing them out of proportion it would make them come to life. I think it made the images more vibrant make all the colors relate to each other," said Barnett.The summer that he applied to Exeter for a post graduate year, Barnett pushed his painting to the side and began to sell his Louisiana collection to a couple of people throughout the state."I was trying to get my name out there. I made a Facebook page and exposed them, five paintings," he said.Following in the footsteps of eleven members of the Barnett extended family, Will and his brother Zach joined Exeter’s class of 2013. From the beginning, Barnett used as many art opportunities as he could and began to paint more than he ever had at home."When I came to Exeter I started up on the rhythm of painting again. I thought it was good since it was distracting me from the outside world; home, homework and the Exeter life. I was really enjoying it. In terms of guidance Exeter is similar to my old school—teachers give me their opinion but ultimately I can chose to take it or not."Unlike at his old school, Barnett no longer has the distractions of being a day student."Since I’ve been living on campus, I’ve put of a lot time aside to paint because it was one of the things I really wanted to excel at while I was here."Art teacher Rebecca Barsi said that Will "had a passion for creating.""I think if he could, he would spend all day in the art studio," said Barsi. "However, with obligations to other classes and on the field, he has had to find a balance and arrange time to create."During the past year at Exeter, Barnett has taken painting and drawing one, ceramics, has completed an independent study in art (Art 999) and is now in the middle of an art 444 independent study. "During my time I have started my whole Louisiana project and expand on the similar concepts I also definitely experimented with new things. For example in the winter term I produced two series with nine paintings. The series included facial expressions—something that I have always wanted to do.""My favorite painting that I’ve seen is the shrimp acrylic one from his last series, said senior Kyle Robinson. "It has very simple lines. It’s one of the pictures you can put on the wall—it will fill up a room. I am looking forward to his oil work this semester which I think will be great.""This term I am doing something a little bit different realistic paintings of southern landscapes of sail boats," Barnett added. "I am planning to do three. They are different because I am using brushes as opposed to pallet knives, which gives the paintings a more defined image. They are going to be shown at the end of May in the gallery exhibition.""I am most excited about Will's most recent art work, developed for his Art 444 class," said Barsi. "He has been able to demonstrate light in a way that reminds me of the Impressionists, soft yet brilliantly vibrant."Barnett has also contributed to the Non Sibi of Exeter and, after playing varsity soccer in the fall, joined the ESSO soccer club where he went out every Sunday to help teach little kids soccer."In five years I will be graduating from the University of Mississippi and finding a job or going to Grad school for business or art," said Barnett."I can imagine Will with a studio and gallery on Bourbon Street in New Orleans," said Barsi.