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Beau Bernier Frank

artist
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Sharing my story of the process of becoming an emerging artist while working, traveling, painting, overcoming challenges, and reaching milestones along the way.

(  ART   +   TRAVEL   +   LIFESTYLE  )

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"TALES OF SUMMER" SOLO SHOW 2024

May 6, 2024

The opening night of my solo show at Gallery MAR Carmel was awesome! I spent 5 months producing 30 paintings for the show! There was a huge turnout and we ended up selling 9 paintings that evening!

Tales of Summer - 

“Moments of Leisure Rooted in Intimacy”

My previous collection “Places Remember What People Forget” was primarily driven by a notion of nostalgia and how memories induce feelings of joy, followed by tinges of sadness, reminding us how a perception of an event is sometimes just as powerful as the experience itself.

This new collection “Tales of Summer” graduates from the ideas of longing and steps into a new direction of experiencing moments in real-time, allowing oneself to feel content and satisfied, to savor the moment and delight in the little pleasures of life. These moments can span many ways: a day spent soaking in the sun, a nap under a tree, reading a good book, a walk on the beach, taking in the sounds of nature. I want this collection to be a gentle reminder to slow down— that when you take away status, wealth, things, never-ending schedules, and to-do lists— you’re left with an exuberant life, one that can be filled with the love of self, others, and an appreciation of nature.

To me, summer is a modern allegory for freedom of choice. It’s the first instance children can sample control over their time, allowed permission to explore their surroundings, express themselves fully, and pursue their versions of happiness. They have time to discover hobbies, develop friendships, and a world beyond their families, schools, and responsibilities. Kids wander, get lost, and most importantly, experience novelty and play.

As a kid, summer was a sacred season. It marked the beginning of hot days spent at the beach, fire-pit gatherings on the sand, and sunsets that felt infinitely longer than they do now. It marked the end of school, of 4th of July barbecues and firework displays, birthday pool parties with a much-needed candy stuffed piñata and an over-frosted Costco birthday cake. It was a time of backyard gatherings and bike rides with no true destination.

Then the festivities came to a close and school returned in session. With each subsequent summer appearing shorter and shorter. Soon jobs replaced school and a shift occurred where the need for financial security replaced the necessity for leisure. The essence of summer was no longer a feeling but merely a temperature change. And just like that, almost overnight, those original traditions of summer became a myth.

In reality, summer has always lasted the same three months each year. The only difference is that I’ve gotten older. Three months to a 10-year-old feels like an eternity, yet to an old man it is as brief as an exhale. One thing seems to reign true: It is hard to grasp a childlike summer again, not because it no longer exists but because it’s hard to feel green grass with loafers on, to see a blue sky under fluorescent LED lighting, to spend time with family and loved ones while keeping up with constant emails, and looming deadlines humming around. It’s increasingly complex to have authentic conversations while using a customer service voice and censored dialogues.

My intention with this series is not to encapsulate the nostalgia of a bygone era, but to create a discussion—an opportunity to step into making time and space for “summer.” A return to childhood joys in our present-day lives. In my early twenties, I rediscovered my passion for art through designing my life around my creativity. It was only when I painfully detached myself from the umbilical cord of societal pressure that I recognized the child-like wonder of the artist inside me, scratching away, pulling at the seams, begging to be allowed a chance to exist once again. It is in this pursuit of moments of leisure, that I discovered how to feel like me again and it feels exceptional.

In emerging artist Tags solo show, art gallery, beau Bernier Frank Tales of Summer, Gallery MAR Carmel
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Struggling artistically through Quarantine

August 10, 2020

I know I’ve been posting here and there randomly throughout quarantine but honestly, the past 3 months have been kinda the worst when it comes to being an artist. Surprisingly I’ve been making lots of sales, mostly from selling work I’ve made in the last 3 years but when it comes to creating new work, I sorta hit a wall.

Earlier this year, I came back to California to gather myself and find some solid footing but instead I was welcomed by quarantine. The first month was awesome! I was painting all day, going on walks, just catching my breath with a much-needed break. Then I fell into a slump. Stopped painting, exercising, reading, writing, photographing, learning, or doing any of the things that I know are good for me and help me up when I’m feeling down. Instead, my head decided it was time to hide out and disappear.

A part of me found solace in this depressed and disconnected state even though I knew it wasn’t a reflection of me or something that would benefit. I think I just needed a break from being me. I didn’t want to be someone people depended on or needed anything from. For a second there I even doubted if I wanted to be an artist. I know it was “the funk” spitting out all these outlandish thoughts but the last few weeks were tough.

I took 3 days to myself where I did absolutely nothing. Then I put down the Netflix, put away the video games, phased out the endless scrolling, and shut down the negative self-talk. I started going on runs and doing home workouts. I started painting for 30 minutes. Then for an hour and yesterday, I painted for 3 hours! I find myself smiling more and looking forward to my days. I think it’s time I started making goals again. I know the state of the world isn’t ideal and I’m not where I want to be right now but this is what I got so I’m going to start from here and make the most of it. I’m ready.

In emerging artist
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"Isolation" - a series of gouache paintings during quarantine

April 15, 2020

My intention with this series is to capture the feelings and mood revolving around this worldwide isolation. The idea to pursue a series on this topic was more or less prescribed to me, rather than discovered.

My curiousity from seeing other artists online work with various mediums led me to unboxing Holbein gouache and placing paints on my paper palette. I’ve also started painting in natural light. It’s a bit of a challenge when the days go by so quickly and the sun begins to drop. Colors warm up and strong shadows get cast over the paper. Nonetheless, pursuing this series titled “isolation” has been a treat.

Instead of spending hours on end and even weeks working on the same large oil paintings, being able to work quickly and in a smaller space allows me time to finish in a sit down session(for now). Gouache is a peculiar substance that I’m learning to maneuver. The way it layers and dries is so bizarre that it feels like a science experiment every time I put paint down. “I wonder what color it will dry as?” is the little game I’ve been playing. When people ask what gouache is, I usually refer to it as the lovechild of acrylics and watercolors. It can be both translucent and opaque depending on the ratio of water.

During these troubling times, being an artist is something I’m so grateful to be. I have a place where I can redirect my thoughts, feelings, and ideas, so that they don’t stay trapped inside me, buzzing around bugging me all day. I invest long hours into my craft and expel my energies into them until I feel there is nothing else I can possibly do with them. I rest and wake up to a blank canvas that I spend my days trying to unravel, understand and express.

For the inspired artist, quarantine may seem like a gift from above while to the artist struggling to find their rhythm, inspiration or personal space to work, this could very much be a living nightmare. It’s not necessary to be a professional, to have a style, to already have a clientele or even to make good art. Now is the time to experiment. To try new mediums, remove boundaries that limit what’s possible, and to say why not?

I suggest that even in a state of fear, panic, anxiety, frustration, and confusion, creation is the meditation you deserve and need. Reflect, introspect, dream or do whatever you must to discover where to invest your energy, but please, don’t let this quarantine bring you down lower than it already has. Instead of taking in negative news, create art and share it, because that’s the kind of news that I look forward to each day. It’s time to take a stand. It’s time to create.

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In emerging artist Tags gouache, isolation, stay home, quarantine
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Studio Tour

December 7, 2019

I just moved to Rochester, New York from my small hometown Pacific Grove, back in California. I'm starting to settle into the apartment and getting all set up in the new studio space. It's time to get back to work with my paints and canvases and I'm so excited to have a place to make some art! Making To-Do Lists helps me set myself up for the day by offering a game plan with actionable steps to both long-term and short-term goals. By having it all laid out and written down in my moleskine journals, I can see what needs to be done, what to prioritize and what is really on my mind, rather than having to ask myself all day or spin around in circles overthinking and feeling overwhelmed. To-Do Lists help me focus my attention on my work and it paves the way to my success!

In emerging artist Tags studio tour
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CULTURA PRIVATE COLLECTION

March 9, 2017

I met Sarah Kabat-Marcy in January of 2016, on my first day of work at Sierra Mar in Big Sur. I had just been hired the week prior and was undergoing training. While I sat there talking to my fellow colleagues during our meal break,  I introduced myself and explained the inspiration and ideas behind the "Off the Grid" series. Sarah, who at the time was sitting a few tables over to my right, overheard me and asked to see some of my work. I showed her my painting of "Mr. Bixby" on my iPhone and she asked for my website.

As a result, we met up for coffee and I brought over the magazine portfolio I had designed and she discussed the possibility of commissioning paintings for "Cultura", a new latin american influenced restaurant set to open up later that year.  She showed me the space: a dark, dusty, stained-carpet dive-bar hidden in a back-alley with a mountain of chairs in the corner climbing up to the ceiling. The place had definitely seen brighter days.  I used to go there years ago after viewing art shows with my family– we'd head over there afterward and have a bite to eat and chat.

We strolled the space and she gave me her vision of this dining room filled with a NY men's lounge red leather couches, touches of vibrant avocado green accents, detailed still-lifes spread throughout, skulls, bones, and an assortment of agave plants. Sarah envisioned blending the bizarre with the beautiful, the offbeat with the contemporary, a classic apothecary with a oaxacan bar, the traditional with the modern. What amazed me most, was the trust she confided in me, and the full creative freedom I was given for the installation pieces. She explained that she didn't want to intrude on my creative process and didn't want to disrupt the integrity of my work by adding her influence.

I went home that night and came up with the concept of having women posing in renaissance-esque poses. I didn't know where to go from there but it took about another month before we finally came to the conclusion that we didn't want to go with the typical vibrant brightly colored vibe. I went with muted tones of black and white and added touches of red to their lips, and greens to their earrings, an electrical hummingbird or a bat mid-flight, a spark of pure zinc white in their pupil.  Just as the "Off the Grid" collection was important to me and personal on so many levels, I wanted this series to tell a story that was true to "Cultura." The series entitled "Las Mezcalilleras" represents and voices of the women who've helped in the cultivation, distillation, and traditions of mezcal production.

Sarah is an extremely knowledgable sommelier with an amazing understanding of food and beverage, which she is currently translating to mezcal spirits. She carefully selected five different types of agave used in making mezcal and gave me a list of distinct characteristics for each of them. Based off of these descriptors, I created a women embodying those personality traits, each with a different backstory and an energy true to the spirt of their corresponding agave. Isabella displays maturity, Beatriz–curiosity, Gabriela–spiciness, Teresa–rarity, Carmen–approachability. 

I met with my art mentor Pamela Carrol before I signed contracts in search of advice and recommendations for how much to charge for the work Sarah was asking for, which included the logo, graphic design work, creating a brand identity and the five paintings. I gave her my thoughts on the prices I was planning on offering for the individual tasks, and she told me to do what I thought was appropriate. It's uncomfortable for an artist, especially one that doesn't know what they are doing, to ask for money. Especially when the client is paying for something that hasn't been created yet. Nevertheless, I offered Sarah an outline of my quote for the project and the work that entailed for each part. She listened carefully, didn't flinch when she saw the numbers, and she took out her checkbook and gave me a 50% deposit. I don't think people understand what a defining moment in my life that was for me. I felt like I was truly seen as an artist for the first time in my life.  Sarah, presented me with an amazing opportunity to showcase my talents and I refused to let her down. I can honestly say, she was the first person to take me seriously as an artist and to support me not just with encouragement, but financially as well.

The following 5 months would become a whirlwind of mixed emotions, late night struggles in the studio, long days at the restaurant, exhausting visits to the gym and never-ending rounds of coffee to stay afloat. Adulting 80 hours a week is what that's called. Looking back on it all, it was a testing time for me. I wasn't sure if I was capable of doing it, nor that I was going to be able to survive, let alone succeed. 

And yet I survived. I'm still here. Still breathing. Still working. Still painting.

The restaurant opened it's doors and was received with open arms throughout the community. Quite frankly, it took the Peninsula by a storm and seeing the restaurant fully-booked on weekends was like music to my ears. I began serving there a couple nights a week to supplement my income and every once in a while I'd look up from the tables and see my art on the walls and it'd hit me as to how far I've come. 

The Cultura contract was one of the most challenging and testing moments in my life and it pushed me passed my limits and even beyond that. I'm oh so grateful for the opportunity I was given by Sarah and I will never forget this moment for as long as I live. Even though I endured a lot of setbacks, mistakes, pain, problems and struggles, it was totally worth every second of it. 

And let me tell you. I want more.

- Beau

 

CULTURA - COMIDA y BEBIDA

 

http://www.culturacarmel.com

https://www.instagram.com/culturacarmel

Dolores between 5th & 6th, Carmel-by-The-Sea

Mon & Tues 5p-Midnight  /  Thurs through Sun 11:30a - Midnight (or later)  / Wed Closed

 831-250-7005

 

 

In emerging artist Tags cultura carmel, mezcal, portrait painting, las mezcalilleras
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Self-Initiated Projects

March 9, 2017

Self initiated projects are side projects that are grown organically over long stretches of time. Most often these little fun ideas are created as a result of curiosity, a personal interest, or the desire to prove to one self what they are capable of.

In emerging artist Tags emerging artist, side projects, art blog
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Latest Posts

“I’m 28 today” // brain goes ”👁👄👁”
“Lifted” Seascape 65 - now available for sale through @6x6auction (closes this Friday at 2 PM PST)
Went to Sonoma for a lil’ wine tasting getaway but found myself by the pool most of the time! I want to do a poolside inspired series so I thought I’d do some gouache studies to figure out color and composition ✨
📍SF Baby
I’m doing a print giveaway of one of my latest pieces! It’s a sunset over Pfeiffer Beach, Big Sur from my “Window” collection. It has a matte finish and is waterproof so it doesn’t need to be protected behind glass! All
- “Days Gone By” | 8 x 6 in oil on cradled wood panel | $600 USD | DM to purchase (free domestic shipping // floater frame available) -
“No Other Plans” circa 2017 // oil on wood panel / inspired by a photo taken by @eddienew_photography 
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I updated my shop with new seascape paintings and restocked some prints that had sold out!
“No Captain” // 24 x 36 in oil on wood panel
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I don’t usually paint in all black and white so this was a fun one. I did sneak some brown and green into it to slightly warm the piece up since it was a little too blue at first. Also
- “Sink or Swim” | 24 x 24 in oil on linen // featuring @luizascandelari
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I made a YouTube video about the making of this painting on my channel: YouTube.com/beaubfrank (link in bio if you’d like to see an in-depth look).
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#emergi
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