A Career In Art
Art has been a major part of my life since my pre-teen years. I was first introduced to the world of fine art and oil painting by my father. Dad was a professional artist and he supplemented his military retirement pay by selling his oil paintings and teaching art classes in the small Texas community where we lived. He taught me the fundamentals of art and composition, in addition to, working in several different mediums, specifically pencil sketches, charcoal drawings and oil paintings. He often traveled to other nearby towns teaching art and I would go with him. A few years later he bought a bait and tackle store on a local lake which he ran until his death. Dad felt my paintings were good enough to be displayed along side his own artwork in the store and they sold! I sold several of my early year paintings in this store.
Formal Art Education
 When I left home after graduating high school and headed off to attend college in California, I continued my studies in the fine arts. I studied art history and the "Old Masters," color theory, acrylic and oil painting, drawing in a number of different mediums, 2-D and 3-D design, perspective and art composition.
While attending college there, I also discovered the world of commercial art. Because of my passion for art, I decided to pursue a career as a Graphic Artist creating artwork pieces for the print media. So I took classes in graphic art and design, production art, typography, photography and other related subjects, in addition to my regular fine art classes.
Years later I acquired Web design skills when I took several online college courses in HTML, JavaScript, and DHTML. Since then independent studies have allowed me to acquire skills in working with ASP, cascading style sheets, shopping carts, animation and search engine optimization, just to name a few.
Art Studies
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Charles H Taylor Arts Center, Hampton VA
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Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News VA
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Pasadena Community College, Pasadena CA
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Royce Glen Phillips, Instructor (Deceased), Robert Lee TX
Commercial Artist Career
My career as a Commercial Artist spans for more than 15 years. During this time I've held a variety of positions: graphic designer in several print shops; desktop publisher of a trade publication and five community newspapers; Art Director of an international magazine; and Web site designer/developer and Search Engine Optimization specialist for several Internet development companies.
Presently I work as a graphic designer in the marketing department of a prestigious east Texas hospital.
Oil Painting, My True Passion
Although my career has kept me very busy through the years, I still enjoy working on my oil paintings in my spare time. I exhibit them in art shows and sell them whenever I can. I've sold my paintings coast-to-coast from Virginia to California and in between. Thanks to the Internet, I've even sold my oil paintings internationally. It is my dream to some day retire from my profession as a commercial artist and make my true passion, oil painting, my career.
I love sharing my paintings with others, so I've created this Web site to showcase my works of art and hope you will enjoy seeing them. It's been a delight to share my paintings with you.
Blessings,
Teresa Bernard
Artist Statement
Artist Interview
Let Me Hear From You
Before you leave my Web site be sure to send me an email and let me know what you like or don't like about any of my paintings.
Thanks for viewing my oil paintings! :o)
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