Who Is Barbara Camph?
US born Barbara Camph has been a full-time stained glass artist for more than 20 years, running her own business in southern Portugal, Panama and now the U.S.
Her work ranges from large window installations, lamps and mirrors, to smaller gift items. Barbara has one of the largest inventories in glass in the area, offering clients an enormous range of colors and textures from which to choose.
Barbara teaches extensively, either at her home studio or at other locations. Known as “the glass lady” she can produce virtually anything in glass.
Please take your time to enjoy browsing Barbara's site to find the topic that most interests you and wallow in the pleasure of viewing her beautiful artwork.
Barbara grew up in Germany and England since her father was with the U.S. Diplomatic Corps. After returning to the U.S., she lived in the Washington, D.C. area for about ten years. She moved to San Francisco in the late 70’s to join her husband-to-be, Tom, after being introduced by a mutual friend. She learned stained glass as a hobby, while working as a contract negotiator for a research firm.
A particularly difficult negotiation in Portugal had Barbara traveling to Portugal every couple of months for several years, about the time that she and her husband decided to leave California for another adventure. They moved to Portugal in 1996, where they both set up shop: she in stained glass and he making custom-designed furniture. Their only regret was leaving their family (and subsequently two grandchildren!) behind.
Barbara became the foremost stained glass producer and designer in the Algarve, Portugal supplying a wide range of commission pieces and gift items, through a variety of outlets. Barbara is particularly proud of being one of the initiators and founding members of ArtXelb, an artists' cooperative which is based in Silves, Portugal; more about this cooperative can be found at ArtXelb.
In 2007 Barbara and Tom moved to Panama, where they became involved in several local community activities such as: starting a recycling program, initiating new trash collection systems, and leading a graffiti eradication program. Their artistic efforts culminated in the installation of the El Valle church windows (see that portion of this site). Now back in the US, Barbara has set up her studio and hopes to achieve the same level of recognition and success enjoyed in Portugal and Panama.