PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION

MIKE BERNARD RI

11 – 30 November 2007

The Linda Blackstone Gallery

Rear of 13 High Street

Pinner, Middx, HA5 5QQ

07860 543535

Exhibition Hours: Wednesday to Saturday 10 – 5

Parking for Patrons (see website for directions)

Nearest Tube: Pinner – Metropolitan Line – Watford Branch

Catalogue available on request

Web: www.lindablackstone.com

Email: linda@lindablackstone.com

MIKE BERNARD RI

Mike Bernard enjoys experimenting with media and techniques, often using mixed media incorporating collage and acrylics. Mike has used paper collage for several years and has developed a highly original and appealing style of his own. As a base to his paintings it has allowed him to create abstract structures that in turn develop into those “happy accidents” which come about from time to time. Random textures, colours and shapes suddenly fall into place. This method allows pictures to evolve their own personality as they progress, which avoids them becoming over-representational.

Bernard and his family travel widely in Europe, and many of the paintings in this exhibition are a result of his being inspired by the colours and shapes of hot summers in colourful countries.

Born in Kent in 1957, award winning Mike Bernard trained at the West Surrey College of Art & Design, Farnham, followed by postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy Schools. Since then he has exhibited widely in London and the provinces. The artist was elected a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours in 1997. He has just moved with his family to Devon where he inspired by the amazing light.