Meredith Bernhardt

I am so happy to be now living in beautiful Western Massachusetts. After almost two years as Artist-in-Residence at the amazing community art center, The Artbridge, I have now relocated to the quaint village of Shelburne Falls, MA.

My work is done in acrylics and is not computer generated (although I did clean them up in Photoshop for printing after I discovered that the originals did not print well when enlarged).

When I first began to paint, it was a way for me to have an adventure when I was laid up for a very long time and couldn't walk. Then it evolved into a meditation and a way to step out of a painful situation. I would discover that I had been in an altered state for ten hours, often more, while I was painting. The time seemed to pass in an instant.

Due to my complete lack of knowledge and experience, I was going for precision with watercolors and a brush that, although small, was too big for what I was trying to do! So, most of these designs went through a very messy period. Then a friend brought me some acrylics and teeny weeny brushes and I was so excited to be able to make all the lines and smallest parts as clean and balanced as possible. (Well, I used to be a dancer - I guess that "dancer's mentality" still...