Barrie Lynn Bryant is a multidisciplinary artist with innovations in frame design, woodworking, gilding, digital imaging, and photography. As co-founder/owner of Merglenn Studios in Kirby, Wyoming since 1995, Barrie collaborates mostly with his wife, artist AB Word, by designing and making picture frames for her original artworks as well as making limited edition reproductions of her originals with digital imaging technology.
Background
Barrie unofficially began his career in the arts in 1987 with photography by designing and teaching a Nikonos underwater camera class to his fellow amphibious reconnaissance Marines. Upon release from active military service in 1988, he began studying studio art with a photography emphasis while seeking a bachelor of arts in liberal arts degree at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. While enrolled as a full-time student, Barrie also used his cameras as an independent artist and freelancer to build a portfolio showcasing his vision, and with that he landed the part-time job as studio and location assistant to renowned architectural photographer, Timothy Hursley, in 1990. Barrie’s work and studies were interrupted briefly in 1991 when “Corporal Bryant” was activated by the US Marine Corps in support of Operation Desert Storm and the Gulf War. Upon release from active duty, he continued his college studies, his work with Hursley and mounted his “Arkansas Diaries” solo exhibition of 40 black and white photographs in Gallery 3 of the Fine Arts Department during October and November 1992.
He began designing and making picture frames for his wife’s artworks in 1995 as a means to save money. When he discovered gilding in 1999, he broke open his piggy-bank, spent all of his savings on karat gold leaf, and began gilding some of the frames for her art on his own. Together he and his wife have won more than 100 cash awards in juried art shows throughout the US as well as seven grants from Wyoming Arts Council (four for development in gilding practices).
Career
Barrie unofficially began his career in the arts in 1987 with photography by designing and teaching a Nikonos underwater camera class to his fellow amphibious reconnaissance Marines. Upon release from active military service in 1988, he began studying studio art with a photography emphasis while seeking a bachelor of arts in liberal arts degree at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. While enrolled as a full-time student, Barrie also used his cameras as an independent artist and freelancer to build a portfolio showcasing his vision, and with that, he landed the part-time job as studio and location assistant to renowned architectural photographer, Timothy Hursley, in 1990. Barrie’s work and studies were interrupted briefly in 1991 when “Corporal Bryant” was activated by the US Marine Corps in support of Operation Desert Storm and the Gulf War. Upon release from active duty, he continued his college studies, his work with Hursley and mounted his “Arkansas Diaries” solo exhibition of 40 black and white photographs in Gallery 3 of the Fine Arts Department during October and November 1992.
Barrie began designing and making picture frames for his wife’s artworks in 1995 as a means to save money. When he discovered gilding in 1999, he broke open his piggy-bank, spent all of his savings on karat gold leaf, and began gilding some of the frames for her art on his own. Together he and his wife have won more than 100 cash awards in juried art shows throughout the US as well as seven grants from Wyoming Arts Council (four for development in gilding practices).
