ARTISTS AMONG US
/Bernadine Fox.
(click images to enlarge)
BERNADINE FOX
(adapted from Bernadine Fox’s online bio)
West End artist Bernadine Fox was born and raised on the Canadian prairie, where she grew tall, lean, wiry, and unruly. In the ‘60s, rural Alberta was a harsh environment. The nearest village was fifteen miles away. The land was so utterly flat and bald that the wind was either one's weathered companion or relentless irritant. The city lights, originating a hundred miles away, cast a gentle glow through the night sky.
Shortly after becoming a young parent, Bernadine and her children moved away to make Vancouver their home.
“Ain’t No Sunshine”
Bernadine has won numerous awards for her art and a provincial award for her writing. She obtained a BFA from the Emily Carr University (formerly ECIAD), where she studied both drawing and animation (classical and computer). She also trained at the Alberta College of Art and Design and Douglas College in BC. After graduating, she worked as a film producer/production manager for both film and animation projects including Johnny Quest, the Care Bears, Mattel, Expo 86, and a variety of TV commercials, documentaries, and feature films.
By the mid-80s, Bernadine had refocused her career from working in film as a producer and production manager to providing professional support for victims of violence. For more than a decade, she worked as an educator, consultant, and support worker providing services to those who had experienced severe, prolonged childhood trauma and the professionals who counseled them. Eventually, and perhaps more importantly, it re-ignited her passion for more creative endeavors.
Bernadine’s art practice started in a very traditional manner: painting oil on canvas. It also began at the tender age of ten. She starts with a blank canvas and then she paints how the sun meanders around a banana, or how light unearths the shape of the glass jar, or how it informs the viewer of the feel and texture of a wicker basket.
“Home Is Where The Heart Is”
She uses bright colors, often right from the tube, as she highlights and brings to the foreground the feel of what she is painting. During a recent Eastside Culture Crawl, one little boy burst into her studio and squealed in excitement “I want to eat that!” pointing to her tomatoes in “Ain’t No Sunshine.”
Bernadine is a member of several art organizations in Canada including and is an active member of the Federation of Canadian Artists. She teaches drawing and has developed classes for individuals who are able-bodied and those who have a range of physical challenges. Most recently, she has begun to curate both national and international exhibitions such as Heroes for Kickstart and Drawn, Draw, Drawing for the Drawn Festival in Vancouver.
Bernadine regularly donates her expertise, time, and art to support the lives of women and children and to develop innovative programs that support artists. She has facilitated the West Coast Mental Health Network’s Expressive Arts Group since 2007 and currently, she is one of the organizers of an organization in the Pacific Northwest that will support and promote women in the arts.
Those who collect her art into private collections and those who view it at exhibits describe being moved by her use of bold and vivid colors in images that provoke emotions.
Her collage work has a graphic and clean edge to it: crisp in its delivery and message.
“Transgressions”
When considering her audience and her customers, Bernadine focuses on two areas of her art: the quality of the workmanship and the accessibility of the art itself. As she continues to build the body of her work, Bernadine is always pushing herself to elevate the level of professionalism and/or technical quality of her work while honing her skill and technique in painting, mixed media assemblage or whatever genre she chooses to employ.
Bernadine Bernadine’s work continues to gain increasing attention in the last several years and is now held in private collections across North America including New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Calgary and Vancouver. She has exhibited throughout Canada in a variety of venues from solo, two-person, and group exhibitions to commercial galleries, artist-run centers along with juried and curated exhibitions. Her work has been accepted into preview shows for ECC including one at the PNE Home Improvement Building.
You can find more information and galleries of Bernadine’s work on her website.
