Bergen Rose

Born in Washington D.C., Bergen spent some of her early childhood living on a farm with grandparents in Oklahoma after her mother took ill.  Her grandmother, a woman of few words, painted images of their rural surroundings.  She put a paintbrush into Bergen’s hand, and Bergen never let go.  Bergen eventually moved to Southern California, mainly Santa Monica, where she lived for many years.  In the 1970s, she lived in England and Spain, a nearly three-year experience that further fueled her love of art and adventure.  She continued her explorations in the 1980s by traveling to the Himalayas many times, hiking, painting and visiting Tibetan monasteries.  She also traveled to Africa, hiking and painting Mt. Kilimanjaro, bicycled over New Zealand, and ducked bullets in Sri Lanka.  These adventures expanded her love of landscape as did traveling and painting in France, Zurich, Germany, Basque country, Portugal, Norway and Japan.  She moved to the Northwest in 1994, where she resides today on Whidbey Island… 

 

Although a painter at heart, Bergen’s interest in fiber art has taken her into new international directions.  She currently has several fiber art pieces embarked on a year-long touring exhibition in Europe, beginning in France and continuing elsewhere into 2015...

 

Bergen studied art in the late 1970s with Martin Facey, an exceptional teacher at Santa Monica College and UCLA.  It was through Martin that she met his mentor Richard Diebenkorn at Martin’s opening in Santa Monica at the Tortue Gallery.  Martin always encouraged and inspired her to pursue her art, and a brief conversation with Diebenkorn sealed the deal.  She also feels fortunate to have studied and exhibited with master Japanese calligrapher Yoshiyasu Fujii in the art of sumi-e (ink painting) and shodo (calligraphy).  Bergen has also worked in the mediums of acrylic, encaustic, clay and fiber art.  Through her fiber work, she was introduced to a world of international artists pursuing exciting visions in textiles and fiber – where she unexpectedly won the 2011 “Coup de Coeur” (judge’s favorite) award in France.  Currently, she has taken up ceramics, concentrating on creating textured kiln fired clay heads made from various clays and glazes.  Her influences and inspirations include many artists – her favorite being Nicholas DeStaël, as well as Janet Mullarney, Emily Young, Turner, Stephen De Staebler, Inness, Nathan Oliveira, her ceramic teacher Kensuke Yamada, and the poetry of Rilke, Lorca, Leonard Cohen, Dylan Thomas and William Blake.  The inspired visuals that continually hold her interest are within nature itself, the sky and the sea, the innocent world of animals, and an aesthetic of simplicity with random, irregular and imperfect beauty..

 

Bergen teaches on occasion, and is honored to receive the fourth invitation to exhibit her work in Beaujolais this April at the Biennale d'Art Textile 2016...