Bernadette loved to draw as a child. She remembers watching her brother and uncle draw amazing pictures. She discovered water color as a young mother and signed up for a watercolor class and fell in love with painting. As her family matured she turned her focus to pursuing a degree in psychology and art. Today Bernadette works in acrylics, collage, and water media. She is fascinated with what happens as she plays with various tools and color. Bernadette often begins painting and mark making without a plan. She paints on canvas and paper in her home studio in Connecticut and loves the surprise of what just shows up and believes that what shows up will tell her what to do next. Each painting becomes an adventure. Her fascination with what happens under the surface of one’s life and how that changes and adds to life experience motivates her to notice those same surprises in her paintings. How a simple color or mark can change the mood of a piece of art is an adventure in painting as it is in life.  My professional training as a counselor and expressive arts therapist has influenced me to notice the creative process within myself.

EDUCATION

B.A.   Psychology and Art….Goddard College….Vermont

M.S.   Counseling….Central Connecticut University….Connecticut

ADDITIONAL EDUCATION

.  Paier School of Art….Hamden, Connecticut

.  Expressive Art Therapy