Gondolas, Venice

Born in Kent, Mike Bernard is an award winning artist. He trained at the West Surrey College of Art and Design and the Royal Academy Schools. He has exhibited widely in the UK and was elected a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour. Mike now lives and works in North Devon.

Mike is inspired by his Devonshire surroundings but also by his travels all over the UK and Europe. He has said that what attracts him most is the pattern of buildings, boats and similar features within a scene.

Mike enjoys experimenting with a variety of media and techniques. He is often incorporating collage and acrylics. As a base to his paintings, collage has allowed him to create abstract structures that can often turn into the ever elusive ’happy accidents’. This is when an array of seemingly disparate textures, colours and shapes suddenly fall into place. He knows a composition is complete when there is a pleasing pattern, unified by a harmonious palette but with abstract elements to retain an atmosphere of spontaneity, freshness and freedom.