Bernadette Pace
Biography
I was born in Buffalo, New York, and have worked in Rochester, New York, Miami, Florida, and now, finally, in Rhode Island. Here I enjoy living near the water and being in touch with the renewing aspects of the ocean and Narragansett Bay.
From an early age, I felt a sense of awe and mystery about life and life’s events. My mother made tatting as well as sewing almost anything with ease: apparel, textiles, or drapery. My father ran Silverlight Door & Window Company. His workshop provided endless imaginative hours as my brother and I conjured what we could nail, saw, or create with workshop scraps. The woodpile in the backyard became my balance beams, our lilac trees were forts protecting us from other imagined armies. In those trees, many stories were created and defended, all to be refined the next afternoon with cousins and kids from the neighborhood adding to the fun. I am inspired by my diverse early experiences with family, creative neighborhood friends, and their families, by nature, and the texture and impressions of the natural world. Lake Erie was only a mile away and was a source of many days of fishing and observation.
At home, we had a simple library of essential reading: encyclopedias, a Bible, and a medical book with colored acetate overlays illustrating how organs reside within the body. I read and was curious about the mechanics of the human form. Later this developed into reading about art, artists, philosophy, modalities of healing, and science. Creating stories and poetry emerged from these sources too. I like to work with words — their rhythm and how they sound paired with images to hint at a story being told. I desire to create and find ways to display alternate ways of seeing, sensing, and feeling in my art.
I always had a desire to help people and at one time felt a calling to social work. Instead, I discovered Reiki, Yoga, and other alternative healing modalities to assist myself and others in consciousness awareness.
I enjoy my connection to Barrington Village. It’s a way to exchange dynamically with people of all ages and experiences while working creatively to enrich our lives as individuals and collectively.
I am privileged to have a wonderful son (Max) and daughter-in-law (Kate).
Artist's Statment Bernadette M. Pace My art reflects my interest in nature, ancient marks, and the icons and patterns evident in a variety of cosmologies that, I believe, reflect the world in which we live. My work is deeply rooted in my experiences, observations, and studies.
Having had a career as a designer and illustrator, I do not limit myself to a single medium or style. Instead, my creations are a dynamic blend of drawings, watercolor, oil, and digital transformation.
These large graphite drawings are from my book Sadie’s Sojourn (1989). The book uses visual and prosaic language to describe the quality of a dream state.
The artworks
Islamic Amulet, Seed of Life, Ouroboros, and others are illustrations used in the book
The Sacred Circle of Geometry and Symbols by Lorena Loo (2005).
Kali Eating Time, using icons found in nature.
Notecards with my watercolors from the collection: A Choir of Angels.
The collection of watercolors,
A Choir of Angels - Hildegard of Bingen, are watercolors layered on rice paper. They were inspired by the music and literary compilations of the 12
th-century mystic abbess:
Scivias (Know the Ways),
Liber Vitae Meritorum (Book of Life’s Merits),
Liber Divinorum Operum (Book of Divine Works),
Causae et Curae (Causes and Cures),
Physica (Health and Healing),
Symphoniae (Songs), and
Epistolae (Letters).
In
Coastal Impressions, I use this square format to suggest aerial views of the delicate, vibrant coastline of Rhode Island. I create an atmospheric backdrop to give the viewer a glimpse of a coastal world quietly and delicately thriving.
These are some artists I am inspired by: Georgia O’Keefe, Hilma af Klint, J. M. W. Turner, J. S. Sargent, and Rhode Island’s Chris Van Allsburg.
I have exhibited my work in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, and Florida. I was included in American Watercolor Magazine’s article Deep Water (1996), citing me as an “experimental watercolorist.” My other published work includes Hildegard (2018), a woven art book created during an internship at AS220; Hildegard: A Chapbook (2024); Holes (2017) by Teagan Joy; and Ancient Ways: Children Experiencing Nature Through Ceremony (2004).
I hold a graduate degree in Illustration from Syracuse University and more recently earned a Painting Certificate from Rhode Island School of Design. I have been a Haffenreffer Museum docent, an AS220 Foo Fest contributing artist, an Art Advisor at the Barrington Senior Center, and a Barrington Village Volunteer, which together demonstrates my commitment to community engagement in the arts. I intend to use my creativity as a tool for teaching and inspiring others to go within and identify their creative and spiritual ethos. Along with creating art, I have an interest in healing others through my Reiki and Yoga practice. As a 2018 grant recipient, I presented Yoga & Art: A 3-day Workshop at State University College at Buffalo.