Cath Barnes has been influenced by the cultures she has lived and worked among, she has combined this with the more traditional European approaches to Art which she received in her Western training as an artist.

She worked for many years with textiles as a medium. However, more recently, she has focused on painting. Her passion for colour is a common element to both. Prior to moving to Egypt, she lived in China. It was here that her work became concerned with the symbology of different flowers and the superstition associated with different numbers alongside the use of gold temple paper (meant as an offering to our dead ancestors). Mixing these with a European approach to painting, her work embraces elements of East and West. Although she is from the West, she feels she belongs in the Far East.