BC Magazine interview

Just by taking a look at Barry Shiff's colorful portfolio, you would never guess that the artist is a native of Mattapan, Mass. Shiff, who enjoys capturing nostalgic scenes set in the Garden State, works in oil paints and watercolor. From the picturesque street scenes of Morristown to the rustic feel of the Pompton train depot to images of people enjoying carefree summer days wading in Barnegat Bay, Shiff certainly has a flair for capturing the beauty and nostalgia of New Jersey's storied past.

"I love painting old train stations and I enjoy hearing different stories from the people I meet," says Shiff. The artist has been told that specific scenes he captured evoke special meaning for some because they connect with fond memories. Some scenes depict a memorable destination where a person met his or her future spouse, and a painting of the Easton, Mass. train depot resonated with a proud woman whose father was a station master there.

Picturesque New Jersey towns, old railroad depots, and sailing ships are a focal point for Shiff who describes his style as "realistic with a hint of Impressionism." Vintage photos, postcards, and old magazines and books often served as reference material for the artist. "I paint a lot of towns and quite often, I'll paint a train in the scene,"  says Shiff. Although he does not have plans to paint scenes beyond the boundaries of New Jersey, Shiff has captured the beauty of Nyack, Nanuet, Pearl River, Central Park, and Coney Island. "If I was younger and just starting out, I would do the tri-state area," says Shiff.

The artist's impressive work is part of the permanent collection at the Easton Historical Society in Easton, Mass., as well as many private collections in the northeastern part of the U.S. His vast collection also includes renderings of the USF Constitution Battles SHOULD IT SAY BATTLESHIPS?HMS Guerriere and other notable ships such as the Flying Cloud and Young America. "I did a lot of paintings of that ship," reveals Shiff, who confesses that he is a history buff.

Glancing Back: A Personal History

Although Shiff has been sketching and drawing for most of his life, he first realized the scope of his talent when he was 19 years old and his sister Lorraine gave him a pastel set. Soon after that, Shiff enrolled in night classes at Boston's School of the Museum of Fine Arts, where he studied commercial courses, which taught him how to work with pen and ink and markers. The aspiring artist later went on to pursue a career in graphics and landed his first job as a mechanical/graphic artist THIS OKAY??. He also created illustrations for a magazine called NAME OF MAG at the New England Beverage Company. During his spare time, Shiff studied life drawing at Don La Cedra Copley Society. "Those life drawing classes are really helping me now, but I didn't know it back then," says Shiff.

After first studying painting, Shiff moved on to watercolor, which is his favorite medium aside from oils. Due to his asthma condition, Shiff can't work with pastels anymore. "I shouldn't even be working with oils, but that's not going to change," says Shiff. The artist says he can sit for hours and watch television while working with his waterolors in his lap. 

When asked if he dabbles in other styles, Shiff says, "I don't care for abstracts or surrealism, but I do like early-Impressionism." For many years the artist worked with the late Mary Kingston, who was his partner in art and in life. "Mary and I worked as a team for 20 years," Shiff says. He would paint a station and Mary would add her own touches, which often included people and flower pots. He says that a lot of couples work this way. "We always painted together even before we started working as a team," he says. We would go to a park, take a barbecue, and paint watercolors."

In regard to exploring other styles, the creative pair did experiment with Impressionism-style at one time, but Shiff says that when these works were introduced to the marketplace, they were difficult to sell. "People want tight, beautifully-rendered works," he says.

Shiff enjoys painting outside on-scene. Last year, while the artist was painting outside, a spectator asked him if he taught, so it was there--on-location--that Shiff recruited his first student for private lessons. He recalls a story about painting on location at Sagamore Beach, Mass. A few minutes after Shiff finished painting the sky into the scene, he found several flies stuck to the canvas. "There must have been something in the oil paints that they were attracted to," he says.

Shiff never had a computer until after Mary died, which was in 2005. Soon after that, Shiff enrolled in cooking and baking classes to keep his mind off of his loss. Computer courses were the next area of exploration and soon after that, Shiff was able to create his own website. "I did all that (layout and pagination) while I was working for Intergraphic Technology in Spring Valley, N.Y. before the computer came along, so it was quite easy to figure out," says Shiff. Prior to that, the only computer experience he had was some time spent playing around at his brother-in-law's house. Now, the Web enables Shiff to locate reference materials. "I use the Library of Congress site a lot," reveals Shiff, who explains that since the images are vintage, users don't have to deal with copyrights. 

Show Time

Shiff is very active in marketing his work and generating interest. He often displays his work at arts and crafts shows, which are located all over New Jersey. Leonia's VFW Hall was the scene of a recent show, which was held in February.  "I had four paintings hanging and the paintings all sold," says Shiff. "I did another show in Far Hills and the first piece I displayed of the Atlantic City boardwalk also sold."  

Certain subject matter tends to resonate with buyers more than others. "I painted a lot of ships," says Shiff, who explains that these were rather difficult to sell at arts and crafts fairs. Although men would naturally be drawn to the paintings, their wives would be opposed to hanging images of ships in their homes. However, Shiff mentions that one woman bought four paintings. She happened to be the great-great granddaughter of shipbuilder Daniel McKay. 

At one time, Shiff painted animals and other wildlife themes, but he soon realized that people generally aren't willing to pay a lot for these subjects either. Then Shiff moved into contemporary images of children frolicking on the beach. When he started incorporating turn of the century images of children, he received a better response. 

Shiff mentions that he recently sold two paintings of ships--one watercolor of  and the other, an oil painting -- but he admits it is quite a challenge to sell artwork at these craft-type shows.  "You can't sell high-quality art at these shows because the artwork is combined with crafts, which sell for $25," says Shiff. A new piece, Ocean City Boardwalk, 1904, was recently uploaded to Shiff's website, www.artnostalgic.com.

Shiff is also an active memeber of the arts community. He currently serves as the treasurer of Fort Lee Artist's Guild. He also keeps busy by doing live painting demonstrations and has one scheduled for May 13 in Rutherford. When ever possible, he likes talking his  painting on-scene, which gives him more of a chance to connect with the elements as well as people, Last year, while he was painting out side, a spectator ask Shiff if he taught, so it was there, on location, that Shiff recruited his first Student For Private Lessons.   

For Shiff, his artwork remains a constant and evolving source of inspiration and creating invigoration. "It is a full-time job," he asserts.  "I have found my niche."   

  Regina Molarois is a freelance writer who covers art Design Beauty and Fashion.