Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Bernson.
Matt, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. i graduated MassArt in 2011 with a double BFA in Animation and Painting. My daughter was born when i was a freshman there, she’s almost 13 now. I’ve been working as a barista for 12 years for a day job. I’ve been doing caricatures here and there since 2010. I worked for a couple years as a tattoo artist, and plan to get back to that soon. I try to get in as much figure drawing as i can. I love to exhibit my paintings when i get the opportunity. My girlfriend and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary last month. I never met my father and my mother left me with my grandmother when i was 5.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I like making figurative artwork. When i was young i loved drawing dragons and monsters, comic book characters, etc. I still like a lot of that stuff but now i do more work (paintings & drawings) that is observational, figure drawing, portraits, skulls, Godzilla. Depending on what work I’m making it may be a mixed media piece on paper (ink, watercolor, crayon, graphite, charcoal, etc) or acrylic on canvas or oil on canvas. I like to work bigger when possible, my biggest drawing board is a little bigger than 2 feet by 3 feet. Not big for some painters, but it’s a monster compared to most other drawing boards. When i paint recently I’ve been sticking to 16″x20″ but i wouldn’t mind going bigger when i have the space. I swap out chairs for skulls in my work (because chairs are boring and skulls are awesome). I try to make stuff that could only be a drawing or painting and not something that could’ve been made by a camera. I hope people can see something they haven’t seen before and be inspired to think and live more creatively.
Artists rarely, if ever pursue art for the money. Nonetheless, we all have bills and responsibilities and many aspiring artists are discouraged from pursuing art due to financial reasons. Any advice or thoughts you’d like to share with prospective artists?
HAHAHAHAHA, I’m in debt so this is very real for me. Your portfolio is what matters bottom line, if going to college means debt it may not be worth it.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I’ll be doing a 1 night pop-up art show in NYC called Pancakes & Booze Thursday April 11 at the M1-5 Lounge. Also I signed up to do the Black Market in Cambridge on Sunday April 14. You can also see me at the Melrose Arts Festival April 27-28. I’m planning on putting some self-portraits into a show on the south shore in April. Will be a busy month for me. Happy Birthday to me, haha, (April 25th).
Contact Info:
- Address: Melrose, MA
- Email: matthew.bernson@gmail.com
- Instagram: @mattbernson.art
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/matt.bernson.5
- Twitter: @mattbernson_art
- Other: mattbernson.tumblr.com
Image Credit:
All artwork (c) Matt Bernson
