Barbara O'Neil Ross

Barbara O'Neil Ross is a professional artist who has taught adults and children for many years. The Cambridge Arts Council awarded her an exhibition of the Fooling with Mother Nature series and a grant to make portable copies of the images to carry into the public schools to stimulate conversation about ways man damages nature and what can be done to counter the damage.

Barbara had the great advantage of having parents who fueled her early creative efforts. Her mother gladly framed her childish horse paintings. At game time, the whole family enjoyed wordplay, puns, and writing silly poems. They loved puzzles, played Scrabble for hours, and sang a raucous version of Blue Moon in three-part harmony.

In time, her family discovered that she was a greater force than they suspected, labeling her "The Iron Marshmallow."

Barbara's "iron" side and interest in art and words propelled her into a lifetime of artwork and teaching. She graduated from Stanford, and taught grades 4-9 in schools from San Francisco to Manhattan. Along the way she traveled, married, learned to cook and ski, and enjoyed a huge variety of art classes.

One day in a California bookstore, her eyes landed on a stunning postcard of Yosemite National Park's vertical rock formation, El Capitan - a full moon above it. A visual idea popped into her mind: Why not paint this scene and add a basketball hoop below the moon?

The idea for Fooling with Mother Nature sprouted from a chance encounter.

For five years, she combined the joy of creating thought-provoking scenes with humor and environmental messages, focusing on the completion of her whimsical series. In 2020, Fooling with Mother Nature was honored as a Finalist in the "Children's Novelty & Gift Book" category by the American Book Fest.

Calling Northern California her home, she is delighted to share this special edition with her fans and new readers.

For Barbara, it has been a soul-satisfying journey! The result, this book and her environmental program for teachers. Discover it at FoolingWithMotherNature.com.