Bio
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Barb Kobe is a Minnesota a one-of-a-kind art and healing doll artist. She remembers her childhood bedroom being filled with dolls on display. She also remembers being told that she was too sensitive and believes that she felt hers and others feelings deeply but didn’t know what to do with those feelings. When she had children of her own she learned about emotional intelligence and competence as she taught her children about their feelings. She developed and manufactured a set of puppets that helped others express anger, fear, sadness, happiness, stress, power, peace, shame and numb. While making them she noticed that as she would think about that feeling, where she felt it in her body and notice where she was expressing it in her life. She shared her creations with over 1000 children and learned that “when I hold a feeling doll in my hand or lap, in other words, outside of my body, the children would easily share a feeling story”. Barb transferred this awareness to her own personal feeling, and healing dolls and has been making her emotional dolls ever since. Emotions and healing are her primary sources of inspiration and drive her doll and figurative art.
While Barb Kobe’s art and healing dolls have received of many ribbons and awards in art gallery shows, she loves to teach others the transformative power of making these emotional healing dolls for themselves. She completed her degree in psychology, as well as a certification in Neuro Linguistic Programming. |
During her last class in college she researched dollmaking, art and healing and wrote a paper that later became the Medicine Dolls curriculum she still uses today and it evolved into her award winning book, The Healing Doll Way in 2019. She graduated in 1999 and has been teaching doll making and healing using the curriculum in retreat settings and as online classes ever since.
She was recently interviewed by Norma Smith Olson for Minnesota Women's Press Magazine. It was called The Thread of Emotion: Barb Kobe's healing dolls transfer feelings from the inside to the outside. Ms. Olson wrote: "She works with archetypes and concepts such as guardians, scapegoats, loving kindness, talismen and inner healers. She uses a process called visual journaling--first creating flat images with watercolor or collage to depict an emotion or a story, and then creating a three-dimensional doll or figure." Barb says, "I believe that making a figure--that you can hold in your hand--will mirror some aspects of yourself. It is really more powerful and transformative than making a flat drawing. |
Resume
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Born Davenport, Iowa 1949
Graduate of West High School 1967 B.A. in Psychology 1999 Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, MN Company Visualize Studios LLC – 1984 to present – Design and Manufacture therapeutic dolls – Group Facilitator since 1985 – Workshop Presenter/Trainer since 1984 – Graphic Designer since 1973 – Dollmaker since 1989 - Author since 2019 Shows The Healing Doll Way 2019 Robbin Gallery Robbinsdale MN Art of the Doll MN Minnesota State Fair 2010, Fine Arts Building, St. Paul MN Arts in Harmony 2010 National Juried Art Show Award of Excellence February 8 – March 25 2010 MN State Fair Fine Arts Show 2009 St. Paul, MN Honorable Mention Internal Designs Phipps Center for the Arts – Hudson, WI Jan 20 – Feb 20, 2005 Art Therapist Art College of St. Catherine St. Paul, MN Jan 31 – March 2, 2003 TRILOGY Hennepin Artists’ Association of Robbin Art Gallery Feb 1-26, 2000 Robbinsdale, MN By Many Hands Garden Show 2000 – Most Whimsical Garden Show 2001 Crystal, MN Show with Quilter Fall 2003 Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Fall 2000 Robbin Gallery Members Show October 1998 Best of Show Edina Art Center Stone Soup Dollmakers Show 1998 Visual Voices Explorations into the creative spirit Hennepin Artists’ Association of Robbin Gallery September 1997 Dolls of Barb Kobe The Art Underground October 7 – November 7, 1997 Ritual Play – Divine Muse Paul Whitney Larson Gallery July 8 – Aug 12, 1996 University of MN – St. Paul |
Affiliations
WARM Mentor since 2013 (Women's Art Resource of MN) Certified ARTBundance Coach since 2010 Journey Circles Facilitator since 2016 Certificates of Training Jan 1983 – Group Facilitation Training May 1986 – Educational Kinesiology Jan 1988 – Project Charlie June 1989 – Friendship Group Aug 1991 – NLP Practitioner Certification Sept 1992 – Girl Scout Trainer Training Sept 2002 – Creativity Coaches Training w/Eric Maisel Oct 2002 – Cognitive Coaching Training Fall 2002 – Creativity Coaching Training Dec 2009 – ARTbundance Creativity Coaching Memberships Minnesota Art Therapy Association Creativity Coaching Association WARM Women’s Art Registry of MN Textile Center Apr 2010 – Coordinated Art Doll Invitational Exhibit for Fine Arts Center at Minnesota State Fair for Aug 26-Sept 6, 2010 
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