Joe Barnes- Illustrations to computer graphics

Joe Barnes has always been involved in the arts. Right from his time spent at the St. Regis Mohawk School, including art classes at Salmon River under the watchful eye of Mr. Sauther, then eventually onto Post-Secondary Education – Joe has always excelled at art. His mentor from high school pushed him to pursue the Post-Secondary Education at the Art Institute of Pittsburg where he graduated with a 2-year degree in Illustration and Cartooning.

“In the Mohawk School people always asked me to draw,” said Joe. “Everyone always loved my artwork, which surprised me because I always thought my brother did better than me.”

When Joe first went to college they focused solely on the arts with no general studies included. He learned different techniques like marker rendering – a process of creating portraits to look as though they were painted. Joe would eventually learn the art of airbrushing, which is a mixture of 90% airbrush with 10% fine detailed work. Many airbrush artists only take it as far as using a stencil, but Joe puts in the extra effort to add the details.

“I have five business signs around Akwesasne and two-billboards,” said Joe. “I was even asked to work on a freight truck to paint a white tiger on it so it would look like it was ripping through it. It was a collaboration between myself and Bruce Boots.”

You can typically find Joe Barnes and his prints at the various craft fairs throughout Akwesasne. He has held a booth at every Akwesasne International Powwow, except for the first one.

“It is great to watch the progress of all of the other artists at the craft shows as they work on developing their skill from year-to-year,” said Joe. “I have been doing these shows for over 12-years.”

Joe Barnes does work mainly on commission projects, like the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs business sign on their office building. He is currently getting more involved on his fantasy illustrations like his more notable piece ‘Yohinonshonni.’ Joe also does a lot of native artwork, but is trying to expand into the more comical pieces in the fantasy genre. To contact Joe Barnes you can reach him on his cell phone at 315-705-1563 or stop in at Greta’s Cake Shop in Frogtown, or by phone at 518-358-9916.