The Drawing Master of Birmingham Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Joseph Barber spent much of his life shaping the artistic landscape of Birmingham. Before he was known as a painter of landscapes, he was a craftsman, working with papier-mâché and japanned goods in the 1770s. This early immersion in decorative arts provided a foundation for a career that would eventually shift toward the more delicate realms of drawing and watercolor. By t…