Cynthia Berchan

Beverly Hills, CA, United States

Statement

When one is innately creative, it must emerge and thrive eventually in ones life. For me, it manifested itself predominately after having been married for 27 years to my Belgian artist husband and spending hours in his studio. My high school and university studies were definitely only of the cerebral bent. I never even considered taking clothing or set design classes. I have always admired the world of design in high fashion, jewelry and interiors. As a high school teacher of foreign languages, I was asked time and again to display my students’ creations of other countries artistry in the main corridors of the administration offices. Up to this time, I had never actually had a canvas before me. I had never attempted to create an art piece in any of the various mediums.

In my 40’s, I enrolled in a junior college’s Form and Design art class. The professor is a world-famous art professor, Hiroko Yoshimoto. Applying my skills and talents to her excellent teaching and direction, I became the

recipient of that year’s Form and Design/Collage Art Award. After numerous art classes, I began to sell my work.

I live by the adage that one must do something creative every day. My art studio is ablaze in color from acrylics, exotic papers, pastels, broken jewelry, small objets trouves, art books and paintings. Colorful collage/assemblage is my forte. I constantly look for the creative aspects of any item, be it on the ground after a tree is trimmed or a bar-b-que skewer in a kitchen drawer. The mind is a creative force and should be exercised every chance possi

Biography

UCI: BA in German/French-

UCI: Secondary Teaching Credentials-

UCLA: double Masters' Degree in German and Education-

16 years teaching high school: German, French, Spanish and EFL-

15 years owner/buyer of upscale clothing/jewelry boutique-

Enrolled in Ventura Jr. College art classes-

Received Award of Merit In Collage & Design, Ventura College-

Member of National Museum of Women in the Arts-

Group Show in the Courthouse of Ventura College-

Single show at PYGMALION, an art gallery, now closed-

Group show in Ojai at an art gallery, no longer there-