Barbara Ursel
Barbara Ursel is an award-winning, full-time artist based in Ottawa, Ontario, with work held in public, corporate, and private collections both in Canada and internationally.
Her practice focuses on urban landscapes, capturing the streetscapes and people she encounters daily. Barbara paints the light and the shadows it casts, highlighting the subtle beauty in ordinary scenes—the shifting street signs, the fleeting gestures of passersby, and the transient architecture. Through her work, she invites viewers to explore these “ordinary wonders,” reflect on the lives and stories depicted, and reconnect with memories of their own.
Barbara works primarily in acrylics, layering opaque and transparent paint to build up values and complex colours. By repeating this process dozens of times in a single painting, she captures the luminous quality of light and the delicate interplay of shadow that defines her signature style.
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currently available work
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566-016 | Barbara Ursel, Warm Fall, acrylic on canvas, 30”x30”.
566-018 | Barbara Ursel, Littlehayes Lane, acrylic on canvas, 24”x24”.
566-019 | Barbara Ursel, Crossing Elm, acrylic on canvas, 24”x24”.
566-010 | Barbara Ursel, Fairland, acrylic on canvas, 20”x30”.
past work
566-017 | Barbara Ursel, Kensington Rooftops, acrylic on canvas, 18”x18”. SOLD.
566-015 | Barbara Ursel, Let Me Show You, acrylic on canvas, 40”x40”. SOLD.
566-007 | Barbara Ursel, Market Corner, acrylic on canvas, 30”x40”. SOLD
566-011 | Barbara Ursel, Left at the Lights, acrylic on canvas, 40”x40”. SOLD
566-008 | Barbara Ursel, Capturing the Gladstone, acrylic on canvas, 40”x60”. SOLD
566-006 | Barbara Ursel, Meet You at the Corner, acrylic on canvas, 30”x30”. SOLD
566-005 | Barbara Ursel, At Kensington Market, acrylic on canvas, 20”x20”. SOLD
566-004 | Barbara Ursel, Spadina Rush, acrylic on canvas, 12”x24”. SOLD
566-020 | Barbara Ursel, Spadina Saturday, acrylic on canvas, 12x12." SOLD
566-009 | Barbara Ursel, Homage to a Classic, Local March Edition, acrylic on canvas, 40”x60”. SOLD
566-012 | Barbara Ursel, The Cottage Cheese at Augusta, acrylic on canvas, 30”x20”. SOLD
566-013 | Barbara Ursel, Harbourfront, acrylic on canvas, 40”x40”. SOLD
566-002 | Barbara Ursel, Pizza on Queen, acrylic on canvas, 16”x16”. SOLD
566-003 | Barbara Ursel, Mabel’s, acrylic on canvas, 16”x16”. SOLD