Hrmployee Profile - Hfitsabeth Barnes

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Cct article en francais (Published on August 27) By Amber Fenikffi

Elisabeth Barnes' artistic talents are weil known in the Human Resources Branch (HRB) as she infuses art into every aspect of her life. The Junior Human Resources Strategies Coordinator has been painting her entire life, but only in the last few years has she moved her extra-curricuiar passion into the professional realm.

ln many ways, Elisabeth finds that her position at lndustry Canada strengthens her artistic abilities as she is able to incorporate them in many of her daily tasks.She finds that simplifying and summarizing ideas or messages into a visual product is an important way of accomplishing the goals of communication. Elisabeth learned a lot about flexibility of design from her work on the Talent Tree logo for the HRB. She discovered how to focus her intended meaning and translate it into a design in a manner that makes the message clear. She has taken this acquired skill and used it in planning her own artwork.
The Talent Treee is the logo for the HRB Talent MarFgg[Le$!Approach (TMA]. The TMA is a unique approach to talent management, learning, development and performance management that applies to all of HRB. The goal of the new logo was to communicate its values to Elisabeth's work colleagues. (See the lCWikifor more information about the HRB TMA.)

The project provided a unique opportunity to determine how to represent the talent management goals of the branch visually. Elisabeth worked as part of a focus and branding group and over the course of the project became a key player in the design process. The most challenging aspect of the Talent Tree logo was amending it to fit the concepts that the branch chose to best exemplify talent management. Elisabeth drew severa[ variations of the logo throughout the drafting process; her team eventually purchased her final painting of the Talent Tree.

Elisabeth enjoys painting natural elements in an interpretive style, focusing mostly on landscapes and abstract work. She attempts to capture beauty in terms of movement and through use of colour contrast. Elisabeth takes inspiration from her dayto-day life; she tries to capture moments of beauty. She approaches each new piece keeping in mind the final effect she wants to achieve. When creating artwork solely for herself (rather than under commission) Elisabeth does not impose deadlines, but allows the image to emerge naturally throughout each painting session. Her paintings range from small- to large-scale pieces depending upon the subject matter and the creative process. Etisabeth is working on a project entitled ViralThought, which combines her artistic sensibilities with an avid interest in political studies. Still in the early stages of development, this endeavour seeks to provide a platform for political discussion on the lnternet. lt will provide access to a knowledge database and an online forum to allow people from all over the world to discuss political issues. As she says, the vision of Viral Thought is "to create a dynamic global community of discourse, whereby, in the future, informed citizens of the world can influence the development of communities, society, politics, ethics and morality through insightful discussion, consensus and mobilization."

The idea for this venture was sparked from Elisabeth's after-class meetings with her school peers, during which they discussed a variety of politicat issues. She wanted to ensure that there was a platform where questions of universal significance could be posted and a variety of people worldwide could converse. ln this manner more than one view could be shared, individuals could be informed of differing opinions and a compromise could be reached based on an open exchange of ideas.

Although balancing her work tife and her passion for painting can be a challenge, this artist says that it is all about knowing what you want out of each moment of your life.
lf you are interested in contacting Elisabeth Barnes with questions regarding this article or to purchase or commission a painting, see the contact information below.