Bernard has been an artist all his adult life, but he put his painting career on hold for nearly twenty years while he earned an MBA at the University of Chicago and established an advertising/marketing agency in the Chicago area.

In the late 1990s, Bernard began to lighten his duties in his company in order to devote more time to painting. Along the way, he has taken workshops with several well-known painters and teachers, including Robert Wade, Arne Westerman, Eric Wiegardt, Frank LaLumia, Alvaro Castagnet and Albert Handell.

Now a full-time resident of Santa Fe, Bernard divides his time between plein air painting and studio painting. He has exhibited in galleries in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, and in Utah and Arizona as well. His work appears in private and corporate collections around the country.

Recognition:

• Finalist in International Artist Magazine’s Seascapes, Rivers and Lakes art competition. The competition was open to painters worldwide and accepted works in all media 

• Grand Canyon painting selected for the Top 200 in the prestigious Arts for the Parks competition

• Awards in four consecutive New Mexico Watercolor Society Shows