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 Maurice Bernard is a Prince Edward Island artist working mainly in chalk pastel and oil. His work captures the innocence of children at play, the warmth of families and the beauty of the maritime landscape. Maurice exhibits regularly: exhibitions include A Visual Diary, about his bicycle odyssey across Canada; Acadian Life on Prince Edward Island, a testimonial to his Acadian heritage; Rural Roots, which portrayed life in rural Prince Edward Island; and Spirit of the Light, an extremely popular show that paid tribute to maritime lighthouses and their surviving light keepers. A graduate of the Commercial Design Program at Holland College School of Visual Arts, Maurice has worked as a professional artist since 1984, setting up his studio at the Lefurgey Cultural Centre in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. Besides his work as an artist, he is also an art instructor traveling from one end of the island to the other teaching students aged five to seventy-five. In addition, he has earned acclaim for his commissioned portraits, which reflect his genuine interest in the life of his subjects. His works can be found in private and public collections throughout Canada, United States, Europe and Asia. Maurice lives where he works, in the city of Summerside, Prince Edward Island with his two children, Neil and Wade. My Life As An Artist I’ve had a passion for drawing and painting ever since I can remember. My dad was in the Canadian Armed Forces so I grew up as an Air Force brat, moving with my family every three to four years to bases throughout eastern Canada. We were fortunate enough to be stationed in Summerside, Prince Edward Island when I was a child. This province had made a deep impression on me; enough that I chose the beautiful town of Summerside to reside in when I embarked on my career as an artist. When we were not living in P.E.I., my father always made sure that we would spend summers here. Since both my mom and dad were raised in the Evangeline region of the island, we stayed in a two room cottage in Union Corner, close to all our relatives. The cottage had no electricity so our entire summer was spent outdoors. We had no television to entertain us so we were in charge of entertaining ourselves. While my brothers played baseball and my sister played with her cousins, I spent a good part of my day in solitary pursuits; reading, going down to the beach to create sandcastles and to sketch. I remember the summer when I was thirteen, I had decided to sketch every building that I could walk or cycle to. So that summer I spent almost every day drawing abandoned farm houses, barns and sheds, cottages that dotted the shoreline, derelict cars, and churches. That summer was my development as an artist; this was what I wanted to be. I lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia in my high school years and, when I graduated from high school, I went to work in retail. I had put my ambitions as an artist away and while it lay dormant for a bit I could not leave it. After a few years I started to sketch again, then I drew every day like I did when I was younger. I began to use pastel and in 1982 I quit my job, gave up my apartment and threw out my furniture. In September 1982 I was accepted to go into the Commercial Design Program at Holland College. I could have applied to the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) in Halifax since I lived there but I knew it was important for me to live on Prince Edward Island. There was a strong attachment to the landscape and the inhabitants. I graduated in 1984 and began my career as an artist. My studio was at the Lefurgey Cultural Centre and I remember those early years as quite a struggle to make a living. I specialized in portraits and began to teach children’s classes. I face painted on the weekends and during the summer. I cycled everywhere. I couldn’t afford a car. My sketchbooks were in my backpack. Every painting I sold I would put a portion of my earnings towards cans of fruit and vegetables and boxes of rice. I had food on hand in case there was a long span between paintings sold. In 1987 I began planning my first show. The planning began with a trip across Canada on my bicycle. That trip was a life affirming experience. I flew to British Columbia with the meager savings that I managed to accumulate. At Vancouver Airport, I had my bicycle, tent, sleeping bag, camera, cans of food, sketch pads and $150.00. My three month odyssey began with Vancouver Island with the beginning my visual diary, sketching and taking photographs and meeting wonderful people. I camped by the roadside, in farmers’ fields, on the beach, in peoples homes that I met along the way. I lived on five to ten dollars a day. I made money on the weekends by going to Country Fairs and face painting . I sold a few sketches. It was an amazing adventure. In mid-September I was in New Brunswick; the nights were cold and I had no money left, so I bicycled home. The last few days I had little food. In 1988 I set out again to cycle Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. On that trip, I realized how much inspiration the Maritimes offered. I especially fell in love with the south shore of Nova Scotia. I have gone back many times since to sketch the land and seascape.  In May of 1989 at the Eptek National Exhibition Centre in Summerside, I had my first one-man show. I remember the night of the opening as if it were yesterday. I walked down from my studio in my new shirt and pants I bought for the occasion. It was incredible to see the long line of cars filing into the Eptek Centre parking lot. Two-hundred-and-fifty people visited the show that night. Seventeen-hundred in the first week. Three-thousand when the show ended a month later. I’ve had other exhibitions since. Another show that was special to me was The Spirit of The Light. It was a collaborative effort. Myself, my fellow painter, Diana Savidant and her husband Allan, John Robertson, a wood carver, and Frank MacAuley, a stained glass artist. All were good friends. The theme of the show was “lighthouses and their keepers”. We traveled all through the Maritimes and Magdalen Islands to research the show and I began to be inspired by more than my home province. As the show was three-quarters completed, my dear friend Diana died of a massive heart attack. The exhibit was a tribute to her and the wonderful life she lived as well as the lighthouses and their keepers. That was the last exhibit, although I plan more in the future. I also must mention my studio. I have been fortunate to be able to work in a beautiful Victorian House in the center of Summerside for twenty-five years. This building is very close to my heart. It was heavily damaged by fire in 2004.  Although it was a traumatic event, in 2005, the building was restored to its original splendor thanks to the staff under direction of Allen Savidant with the support of the City of Summerside and Province of P.E.I. If you are in the city please come see this building and the adjacent properties. Click here to visit to the Wyatt Heritage Properties website. Thank you for your interest, Maurice Bernard |
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