[caption id="attachment_404" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Linda Barnicott poses with "Pittsburgh's New Horizon""][/caption] Linda Barnicott lives in Monroeville Pennsylvania with her husband and two daughters. Although she did spend some time studying with international portrait artist Daniel Greene, she is in large part self-taught. All the greats have studied to some degree, but all, like Linda, have an amazing God given ability which allowed them to not just be an artist but reach a level of greatness. Barnicott’s passion became a career in 1975 with the painting of Pittsburgh and Americana portraits. Before the brush touches the canvas, Linda does her homework. She finds one of her iconic scenes, and starts with photographs. She doesn’t just take a picture of an empty scene though, instead, Linda brings her family and friends along. You can see her husband in nearly every picture she has ever painted. Looking at her masterpieces in chronological order, you can quite literally see her daughters grow-up. Sometimes when Linda is ready for photography the scene isn’t, but Linda does not let that come in the way of her and another piece of fine art. Instead, she improvises. She’ll find what is missing, and get another picture of those missing pieces, even if it means staging the scene in her backyard with the a little help from some friends. She merges the images in her mind, brings them to the canvas, and voila; a great Barnicott painting comes to life and to a gallery near you. Linda’s passion made it to the masses nearly overnight when she was inspired to paint the iconic Kaufmann’s Clock. It is amongst the registered National Historic Landmarks and has been an object of historic pride amongst the people of Pittsburgh. It’s been there for over 100 years, and since being erected the term “Meet me under the Kaufmann’s Clock” has been a common phrase for friends looking for a place to meet up in the city. That phrase titles Barnicott’s 1989 tribute to the Pittsburgh holiday shopping experience which instantly spring boarded Linda to become a well-known artist of Pittsburgh scenes. Oddly enough, Kaufmann’s, and it’s inspiration, has helped launch more than Linda’s career. Kaufmann commissioned Wendell August's first retail product which became known as “The Tray that Launched a Business". This tray sent Wendell August whirling down the retail path to become the company that we love today. Each year, Linda’s timeless scenes become more widely discovered and loved. She has been named the official artist of Three Rivers Regatta, been commissioned by the American Cancer Society, and received a special Proclamatin from the City of Pittsburgh to commemorate her “tremendous contribution in capturing and preserving many sites in and around the Pittsburgh Area.” You can find Linda’s work in over a 100 galleries and boutiques, and now, you can find her works forever frozen in hand-hammered metal by the artisans of Wendell August.