Bert Beirne's oil paintings begin with her relationship to the objects she is painting. She challenges herself to master the still life composition which she establishes before she begins to paint. The theme of the painting may be contrasts of color or texture, or the interplay of light on the objects she has chosen. She puts a great deal of thought into creating the setup of what she will paint and into solving the problems of color, light, shape, and texture. The act of painting then becomes a process of refining rather than changing what she has created. She begins from a main center of interest, often a piece belonging to her family or one which she has collected. She acquires and paints only objects which she likes, retaining whenever possible this personal relationship with what she paints. Always, she tries to pull a response from the views which makes them share in the process of discovering what is there.

Bert chooses her subjects from a variety of materials and textures - Madeira lace, Persian rugs, metal, porcelain, glass, fruit, leather, wood, a roll of sheet music. Her objective is to create something which is pleasing and beautiful, not ugly and unpleasant. Noting that, "No great thing is created suddenly," she begins the actual painting with multiple layers of oil on canvas, establishing on canvas the placement of the objects themselves and the shadows created by the neutral background which characterizes her style. She says that she paints in oil because she enjoys both the challenge and the process of the creation, often losing rack of time as she works.

Bert comments that although much art today is based on photography, hers is not. She is painting light, air, and movement of the light across the canvas, creating the mood. Because of this use of light, people tend to see the objects first; light serves also to create the mood which draws the viewer into the painting. The view thus becomes aware of what is in the painting besides those objects - texture, color, shapes. Painting, Bert says, is hard work, but the results are gratifying, not only to herself but also to the viewers who like and respond to her art.

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Bert received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati. From her beginnings as a painter of marine subjects, she developed an interest in the styles of the Flemish painters and has studied with artists in Scottsdale, Taos, and Raleigh.

Bert's oil paintings have won top awards in numerous regional and nationals shows and are included in private and corporate collections throughout the Unites States, Canada, England, Germany, Japan, and Puerto Rico.

COLLECTIONS

Arthur Andersen and Company
Bank of America
Isabel Anderson Comer Museum
King and Spalding
Sun Bank
Price Edwards & Company