Barry Herniman worked as a draughtsman and surveyor before emigrating to South Africa. He then took up a career in advertising and travelled throughout South America and the USA before returning to the UK in 1980. He worked with the Countryside Commission and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust before becoming a full-time student at the Gloucester College of Art and Technology where he gained a Higher Diploma in Information Design. He became a member of the Chartered Society of Designers in 1986 and formed his own graphics company in 1988. His first solo exhibition of watercolours was in Ross-on-Wye in 1991 and he soon went on to pursue painting full time. He now travels extensively tutoring workshops and demonstrations and has had exhibitions in England, Canada and the USA. Barry won the Artist of the Year Award for the SAA in 2001 and the Harper Collins Award Patchings 2000. His hobbies include travelling, walking and playing the mandolin.