Profile picture of Barb Bailey & Aaron Horrell

Barb Bailey & Aaron Horrell

About Us

About Our Art

Aaron Horrell  is a self-taught artist and owner of  Painted Wren Art  in Cape Girardeau and Barb Bailey is also a self-taught artist and manager for the gallery:  https://www.facebook.com/PaintedWrenArtGallery   Aaron and Barb have been painting together since 2014 and at this time they have created 385 BARBARON minis. The artists sign their 6″ X 8″ mini paintings with the name “BARBARON”. The name came about from putting their first names together, with a slight misspelling of Aaron’s name.

They began writing children’s stories when a gallery visitor commented that their whimsical paintings would be great as illustrations in children’s books. Aaron used to make up fun stories to tell his children when they were young, so he’s good at coming up with new story ideas. They have Facebook pages for their BARBARON mini paintings: https://www.facebook.com/Barb.Aron.minis and for their children’s books: https://www.facebook.com/Alison.Barbaron  They recently completed their 15th children’s book. Their books are available at the Painted Wren Art Gallery and on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=barb+bailey+and+aaron+horrell&crid=2OTGH1IFOING2&sprefix=barb+bailey+and+aaron+horrell%2Caps%2C418&ref=nb_sb_noss

In 2018, Aaron and Barb took their collaborative art a step further. Aaron had an idea for a huge project to celebrate Missouri’s Bicentennial Birthday: a large mural called the Missouri Bicentennial Mural: https://www.facebook.com/MissouriBicentennialPaintForACause  The mural is made of 15 panels of aluminum composite and when put together will measure 12 feet tall and 30 feet long. Aaron and Barb traveled around Missouri, putting paint on brushes and directing people where to paint. When finished in June 2021, the mural had a total of 16,116 people from across Missouri who each painted a 2″ right triangle on this historic mural. As of today, 4-1-2022, the mural is being permanently installed in the Truman Building in Jefferson City, Missouri and will be available for the public to see very soon.

Aaron has been painting for over 50 years and Barb began painting 8 years ago. They look forward to many more years of painting colorful, whimsical paintings to illustrate the stories they write.

Juried Artist/Studio:

Barb Bailey & Aaron Horrell

Short Description:

BARBARON minis are painted on 6 inch by 8 inch gessoed Masonite boards or gessoed aluminum composite pieces. Usually Aaron will begin the new painting and after a while, he passes the piece to Barb for her turn. They may swap the paintings several times before they decide the paintings are finished. Barb and Aaron have published 14 children's books, 4 coloring books, 2 children's poem books, and 1 picture book, using their BARBARON minis as illustrations.

Contact Number:

573/579-1000 or 573/837-9514

Email Address:

barbaraon.minis@gmail.com