The woman behind the artist
Barbara’s course
“When we follow our hearts, our dreams come true. This deep conviction guides me in every composition.”
A Belgian painter renowned for her dreamlike, pop and colourful universe, Barbara Cox lives with her family near Brussels, in Walloon Brabant. Her work resembles a garden of dreams, an enchanted world in which she seeks to inspire wonder and happiness. A lover of life, she sees it not only through rose-tinted glasses, but through a refined colour palette, full of energy, positivity and emotion. Barbara’s art touches the heart, because the heart is her raison d’être.
Artist painter Belgian renowned for her dreamlike universe, pop and colourful, Barbara Cox lives with her family near Brussels, in Walloon Brabant. Her work resembles a garden of dreams, an enchanted world in which she seeks to amaze and make happy. In love with life, she does not see it only through rose-coloured glasses, but through a refined chromatic palette, full of energy, of positivism and emotion. Barbara’s art touches the heart, because the heart is her raison d’être.
Born in 1990, Barbara was immersed in love from an early age, particularly a love of art. As an only child, she accompanied her parents from one exhibition to another, from museums to art galleries. Her attraction to painting and, above all, to bold, bright and luminous colours has always been evident. She grew up in Belgium in the 1990s, a period marked by an explosion of artistic creativity and carefree attitudes: Antwerp became a major fashion hub, Brussels established itself as the European capital of contemporary art, while Liège became part of a more underground scene. These influences would remain forever engraved in the artist, who is as passionate about art as she is about fashion.
Alongside ballet, Barbara took drawing lessons until her teenage years. These lessons trained her hand and her eye and gave her mastery of line. She quickly understood that drawing freed her from her fears, brought her peace, and that her colourful drawings were a source of happiness, both for herself and for others. She then discovered the power of colour, that vibrational energy capable of awakening emotions. She now says: “Through my colours, I awaken the human heart to an optimism that is essential to me. I want to be a vehicle for happiness and touch everyone in their most universal aspect: childhood memories, that sense of wonder that stays with us throughout our lives.”
Uninterested in science at school, the artist enrolled at university to study law, which led her to become a barrister in Brussels, specialising in family law. Throughout her childhood, dance, photography and drawing provided her with the breathing space she needed to unleash her pent-up creativity. Barbara loves beauty, deeply and instinctively. She loves things that uplift, that make life sweeter, brighter and happier.
Since she was a little girl, she has been fascinated by the worlds of luxury fashion houses, jewellery, fashion, design and the most inspiring aspects of lifestyle. She observes shapes, lines, textures and colours, and the way in which an object, a piece of jewellery or a creation can tell a story and evoke emotion. As a child, her dreams changed from day to day: one day she wanted to be a gemmologist, to understand the magic of stones and the light they capture, and the next she wanted to be a designer, to create, draw and bring worlds to life. She secretly dreamed of becoming an artist of uncompromising beauty, an artist who brings light to the world. She did not yet know that Lux means light in latin.
Dreams alone are not enough for this free-spirited, enthusiastic and energetic young woman, who is eager to devour life. Barbara quickly hangs up her lawyer’s gown, as black as the cases she pleads, and quickly becomes a renowned wedding photographer. For her, weddings represent a true bubble of happiness, an enchanting day in which she can fully blossom.
Unfortunately, Covid-19 has come along to spoil the party. Hyperactive and confined, Barbara seeks an outlet. She unconsciously reactivates a childhood defence mechanism that calms her: drawing, and thus launches her career as an artist. She takes out her brushes to brighten up a narrow and anxiety-inducing life, and paints an invitation to dream and joy, as a form of resistance to the fear of the world.
Spontaneous, cheerful and go-getting by nature, grey has no place in her life. Barbara, on the other hand, is full of colour. These personality traits become the very essence of her artistic style.
“For me, painting is a celebration of the joy and beauty of the world. I seek to make it brighter, lighter. Every colour carries my energy, every stroke reflects my passion for my craft. I love the material, the texture, and this vitality that reflects who I am can be found in all my paintings.” Barbara Cox
Her art, born out of a desire to re-enchant, was an instant success. Her works can be found in many countries and are part of private collections. Barbara is now represented in prestigious galleries in Knokke-le-Zoute, Paris, Saint-Tropez, Biarritz, Arcachon, La Baule, Courchevel, Megève, etc.
While the artist likes to say that she “awakens hearts through the magic of colours and passion”, her symbolic elements — the heart-shaped strawberry, the little character named Barb’Happy and the Eyes of Awake Dreams — contribute just as much to her success. With her unique artistic signature, recognisable at first glance, Barbara has also collaborated with luxury and premium brands on bespoke artistic projects in search of emotion, meaning and uniqueness. Her joyful, colourful and highly symbolic universe fits naturally into brand identities, while respecting their codes.
The artist’s refuge
Barbara’s studio
Surrounded by nature, at the heart of the green landscape of Walloon Brabant, Barbara Cox’s studio is a true haven of peace. Both a quiet refuge and a hub of creative energy, it unfolds amidst vast expanses of greenery, of the woods, of ferns, where meet rabbits, deer and butterflies. This abundant nature feeds the artist’s imagination without any doubt.
Here, light bathes the studio in an almost miraculous brightness, and when you enter this almost secret garden that houses her studio, the contrast with the outside world is striking. You immediately enter Barbara Cox’s world. Colour reigns supreme here. Tubes of paint, arranged like a huge rainbow, interact joyfully with the brushes, while deliberately preserved splashes of paint cover the floor, transforming it into a work of art in its own right.
On the walls, a vast jumble of photographs from fashion magazines, advertisements from major fashion houses, striking and inspiring images, memories of projects, of collaborations and personal photographs. So many fragments that bear witness to the deep passion Barbara for the world of beauty.
Barbara enjoys welcoming visitors to this workshop, a place for exchange and transmission, to share her artistic secrets and introduce her visitors into the behind-the-scenes of her creation. In the hushed silence of this enchanted world, reality fades away. And when Barbara tells the story of a dream that takes shape on canvas, time seems to stand still.
Partnerships
Barbara’s collaborations
2023
Art & Wine
Mystic Island Winery – China
2024
Art & Design
The Concrete Table – Belgium
2025
Art & Jewelry
Wolfers – Belgium
2026
Art & Beauty
Cosmetic brand – International
Questionnaire
Barbara in twelve questions.
Your favorite artist?
I cannot limit myself to only one! Matisse above all, for his colours, for his dancers, for his words. Niki de Saint Phalle for her Nanas, Jackson Pollock for his abstractions, Pierre Alechinsky for my Belgian roots.
Your essential for creating?
To lock myself in my studio in complete silence, to extract myself from all my thoughts and let my mind and my hands do the rest.
A simple way to describe yourself?
An unconditional lover of life!
Barbara Cox’s “slogan”?
Make vibrate the hearts with the magic of colours and passion.
The role of art according to you?
To arouse emotions.
The role of your art?
Make happy, unleash the imagination, make dream!
A quotation?
All of Matisse’s!
“Colour, above all, and perhaps even more than design, is a form of liberation.”
”All one’s life, one must be a child.”
”There are flowers flowers everywhere for those who want to see them. “The drawing is like a garden: we cultivate it, it grows, it breathes.”
The walls of your studio?
They are covered with pages from magazines jumbled together: photos of fashion, design, colourful worlds, adverts, etc. I was a photographer and I remain very sensitive to this art. I am a passionate about fashion, a world that directly inspires my work.
Your artistic obsession?
The harmony between beauty and colour.
Your sources of inspiration?
Human beings and nature, because these are the essentials. I draw inspiration from everything and from simple things: a moment in everyday life, a shop window, a bouquet of flowers, a scarf, a song can become the starting point for a creation. I am also very sensitive to the entire artistic universe of major traditional luxury brands.
Your artistic dream?
I’ve had enough! Create a giant canvas, launch my Barb’Happy sculpture, create an animated Garden of Dreams. Do a collaboration with a major luxury brand such as Hermès, Chanel, Dior, etc. Creating the sets for the Tomorrowland would be the craziest dream.
Why are you an artist?
Qu’elles soient fantaisistes, enfantines ou plus raffinées, mes œuvres sont toujours uniques. À travers elles, je veux laisser une trace : un hommage à la beauté, à l’émerveillement et à l’humanité. Créer, pour moi, c’est offrir un moment de rêve, une parenthèse vibrante et intemporelle.
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