Philla Barkhorn

Chatham, NJ

Philla Barkhorn was born in 1962 and grew up with a love of drawing. Her grandfather, Peter Helck (peterhelck.com), was a renowned illustrator. An interested and capable artist as a teenager, Philla continued to study and produce art while she and her husband raised three children. Once her youngest child started school full-time in 2006 she was able to invest more extensively in serious and intense study of portraiture. Philla is very grateful to have studied with some of New Jersey’s finest portrait artists, such as Rhoda Yanow, Alex Piccirillo, and David Pena, among others.

When she was diagnosed with a curable form of breast cancer in 2006, Philla discovered she wanted to paint the beautiful faces of the women in her support group. Thus began her series on “Women Whose Lives Have Been Touched by Cancer”. Demand for her work grew out of this project which is scheduled to be shown at the Connection for Families in Summit for the month of November, the Unitarian Church in Summit for December, and the Library of the Chathams in February 2008.