About Bryn Barnard

Born in Los Angeles in 1956, Bryn Barnard grew up in the artist’s colony of Laguna Beach, California. His interest in art was encouraged by his aeronautical engineer father, Ernie, and actress/writer mother, Elaine. After an AFS high school year abroad in Malaysia, he studied art and Asian studies at UC Berkeley, graduating with Phi Beta Kappa honors.

After studying illustration at Art Center College of Design he returned to Malaysia on a fellowship from the Institute of Current World Affairs to work in and write and paint about intercultural communication in the advertising industry. Returning to the US as a consulting associate of Universities Field Staff International he toured college campuses across North America to report on this experience.

His freelance illustration career began in 1983 with covers for the Far Eastern Economic Review and Asiaweek. He then turned to paperback book covers, paintings for National Geographic and NASA, and large murals for Children’s Hospital in Seattle and the Beaverton, Oregon Library.

In 2003 he began writing and illustrating science-history books. Dangerous Planet: Plagues That Changed History, published by Crown, was lauded by the New York Times Book Review as "part Jared Diamond ... part Stephen Jay Gould.” 

This was followed in 2005 by Outbreak: Plagues That Changed History, published by Knopf, called "pleasantly lurid" and “irksomely left-wing” by the Wall Street Journal, and "the stuff of nightmares" by the Denver Post. 

The Genius of Islam: How Muslims Made the Modern World, published by Knopf in 2011, was the subject of a tour of World Affairs Councils across the US and was included in the United States Middle East Outreach Council’s list of non-fiction books for youth, the Children’s Book Council Master List of notable books, and the National Council for Social Studies. 

The New Ocean: The Fate of Life in a Changing Sea, published by Knopf in 2017, was praised by School Library Journal as, “an impassioned call to protect Earth's oceans,” and recommended for inclusion in STEM libraries.
 

Solo exhibitions of his work have been presented at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Port Angeles Fine Art Center, and other venues. He has been a teacher at international schools in Kuwait, Korea and Singapore, universities in Pennsylvania and Delaware, Semester at Sea, and a visiting artist at many schools in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Currently he is creating paintings for his upcoming book, This Changes Everything! The Promise and Problem of Inventions.

2022  Remembering Dairy Farm

2017  The New Ocean: the Fate of Life in a Changing Sea (Knopf)

2011  The Genius of Islam: How Muslims Made the Modern World  (Knopf) 

2005  Outbreak: Plagues That Changed History  (Knopf)

2003  Dangerous Planet: Natural Disasters That Changed History (Crown)

2022  A Penang Portfolio (Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society)

2008  The Land of Smaerd ( Know Wonder)

2001  Colorful Chameleons (Random House)

2000  The Well of Sacrifice (Clarion)

2000  Anooka's Answer (Clarion)

2000  Dinosaurs (Intervisual)

2000  Big Birds (Random House)

2000  Tentacles: Tales of the Giant Squid (Random House)

1995  Gorillas: Gentle Giants of the Forest (Random House)

2011  Port Angeles Fine Art Center, Port Angeles, Washington, USA

2010  National Museum of Health and Medicine, Washington, DC, USA

2009  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

2008 Islands Museum of Art, Friday Harbor, Washington, USA

2006 Islands Museum of Art, Friday Harbor, Washington, USA

2002 Art of Illustration Gallery, Seattle, Washington, USA

2000 Alliance Francaise, George Town, Penang, Malaysia

1993 Olympia and York, New York City, USA

Virtual Visits

2022    Barbour American International School, Yehuda Israel

2021    Branksome Hall Asia, Jeju, Korea

             American International School, Guangzhou, China

2020    Brooklyn Heights Montessori School, Brooklyn, New York, USA

            Colorado Academy, Denver Colorado, USA

            Institute of Current World Affairs, Washington DC, USA

            Saigon South International School, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Live Visits

2019    YK Pao International School, Shanghai China

             Soong Ching Ling School, Shanghai China

             Shanghai Community International School, Shanghai, China

             American Overseas School of Rome, Italy

             American School of Barcelona, Spain

             The American School of the Hague, Netherlands

2018     Cheongna Dalton School, Cheongna, Korea

             Chadwick International School, Incheon, Korea

2017     British International School, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

             International School of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

             Garden International School, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2016    International School of Beijing, China

2015    Mont'Kiara International School, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2014    Shanghai American School, Shanghai, China

2013    Copenhagen International School, Denmark

             British American Academy, Muscat, Oman

             British School of Muscat, Oman

             The American International School of Muscat, Oman

2012    American School of Doha, Qatar

             Qatar Academy, Doha, Qatar

             International School of Helsinki

             Stockholm International School, Sweden

2011    American School of Warswaw, Poland

             American International School of Budapest, Hungary

             Anglo American School, Sofia, Bulgaria

             American International School, Zagreb, Croatia

2010    Colorado Academy, Denver, Colorado

            Graland Day School, Denver Colorado

2016    Environmental Council of States, Nashville, Tennsssee, USA 

2015    "From Art Making to Art Thinking: New Paradigms for Illustration Education,"  

             ICON8, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, Oregon                 

2014    Medical Students Association, Kuwait University, Kuwait

2014    American University, Salmiya, Kuwait

2013    Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

2013    School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

2012    International Association of School Librarians Conference, Doha, Qatar

2011    GSNI Medical Illustrators Conference, Olympia, Washington, USA

2010    Caring for Colorado, Denver, Colorado