Mike Bernard (born 1957) is an English painter. His highly textured semi-abstract paintings are often executed in

mixed media In visual art, mixed media describes work of art, artwork in which more than one Art medium, medium or material has been employed. Assemblages, collages, and sculpture are three common examples of art using different List of art media, media. M ...

incorporating

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

and acrylics; he also brings an experimental approach to

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the ...

and

oils An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturat ...

. Regular subjects include coastal and street scenes in the English

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

and Italy. "What attracts me most is the pattern of buildings, boats and similar features in a scene. I build a painting by putting in blocks of colour to develop a pattern which is pleasing to my eye in colours which are harmonious, bringing in feelings of spontaneity, freshness and freedom." Bernard was born in

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. He trained at the

West Surrey College of Art and Design Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College (SIAD) was an Art school, art college in the United Kingdom from 1994 to 2005. It was formed from the merger of West Surrey College of Art and Design (1969–1995) and Epsom School of Art and ...

, Farnham, followed by postgraduate studies at the

Royal Academy Schools The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

. Since then he has exhibited at the

Royal Academy summer exhibition The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during the months of June, July, and August. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, sc ...

Mall Galleries Mall commonly refers to a: * Shopping mall * Strip mall * Pedestrian zone * Esplanade Mall or MALL may also refer to: Places Shopping complexes * The Mall (Bromley), London, United Kingdom * The Mall (Patna), Bihar, India * The Mall (Sofia), ...

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

and many other galleries in London and the provinces. He has also gained awards and prizes for his paintings, including the Stowells Trophy, the Elizabeth Greenshield Fellowship, Silver Longboat Award and Laing Award. He was elected a member of the

Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI), initially called the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, is one of the societies in the Federation of British Artists, based in the Mall Galleries in London. History In 1831, the ...

(RI) in 1997 and in the 1999 RI Exhibition at the Mall Galleries was awarded the Kingsmead Gallery Award. Bernard lives and works in North Devon, having moved there in 2008 from Hampshire. He is a regular contributor to '' The Artist'' magazine.

External links

Official Mike Bernard Website

Works at Marine House, Devon

Works at Wimbledon Fine Art, London

Works at Panter & Hall, London

Works at John Noott Galleries, Worcestershire

Works at Bath Contemporary

Works at Lyndhurst Gallery, Hampshire

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Mike 1957 births Living people People from Dover, Kent 20th-century English painters English male painters 21st-century English painters 21st-century English male artists Members of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours 20th-century English male artists