Love of all art styles gives scenic painter Jeff Barrick a lot of inspiration to draw upon

Jeff Barrick is a scenic painter working at Indiana University South Bend, but who also creates wonderful backdrops for The Geeks' home theatre, Elkhart Civic Theatre in Northern Indiana.  He has created backdrops and scenic elements for such diverse shows as Count Dracula, Assassins, Company and many others.

Collaboration with the set designer, (in this case, Geek John Shoup) is critical to successful design, but so is research.  Barrick almost always uses reference material for inspiration and design concepts.  Anything, from comic books to film, to wallpaper patterns to other set designs, can qualify.  Barrick takes these elements and imaginatively works them into scenic elements that fit the specific needs of a particular show.

Most recently, Barrick borrowed a graphic look from the cover of an old romance comic book to create the creepy grand olio (listen to the episode to learn what this is) for a production of Zombie Prom.

Spend some time with the Geeks (including honorary Geek Deirdre Lovejoy) to hear more about Jeff's process for scenic painting.  And take a look at the following videos to see Jeff (and John) at work.

More of Jeff's work can be seen Jeff Barrick, Muralist.

 

Music provided by Music Alley