Meet the Artist: Tina Bernstein

Over the past eight years, the phrase “the first Sunday in June” has become synonymous with the visual arts in South Orange and Maplewood. This is the day reserved for the popular . Newly improved and sporting a new logo, the 2012 tour boasts an expanded website with interactive maps and artist information, and one additional and particularly welcome new feature: this years’ South Orange Maplewood  will be free for visitors. Visit the site to plan your tour.

In anticipation of the event, a number of artists were willing to answer questions about their work and what they will be showing on the studio tour this year.  Here is an interview with Tina Bernstein. 

What compels you to create?

I have always loved to work with my hands and I have always enjoyed recreating what I see around me. Since the 90’s several moves, travel and changes in my life, my art has been my means of expressing my longing for connection and my respect for my surrounding environment. 

How would you describe the artwork that you create?

My art work is a layering of paper surfacing and combinations of textural elements as well as photographic images that I cut and reconfigure. It is, of late, representational of my fascination with nature and the connection between nature and my own sense of place and belonging. 

When did you start making art?

Kindergarten, I think. For as long as I can remember I have been engaged in art. I participated in Saturday art classes at Pratt Institute as a child, went to the HS of Music and Art and to the School of Fine Arts at Boston University. I have to say, however it is in the past 15 years that I really let go, stopped thinking so much and started playing and creating with new media and techniques. 

Do you have a favorite artist?

I love the work of Romare Bearden. I love the way in which he combines paint with free form decorative elements and cut images. I was introduced to his work by a teacher at the HS of Music and Art in NYC and have followed it since. One day I decided I wanted to try to cut and paste and layer and I have been doing it since. As a member of the Louisville Area Fiber and Textile Artists, I also had the opportunity to participate in a weeklong surface design workshop with Jane Dunnewold as well as a paper surfacing workshop with my dear friend and amazing artist Suzi Zimmerer. I was introduced to Jose Fuster in Cuba and his amazing home/studio and village filled with mosaics. All of these artists and opportunities have expanded the way in which I use materials and have enriched my artwork. 

What is your preferred medium? Why? How long have you been working in that medium?

Combining paper, textural elements, inks and gouache. Sometimes smashing and breaking tile, cutting glass and getting gritty with grout. For the last ten years I have worked with these materials. It feels good and I enjoy the results. 

If you knew you would never sell another work of art, would you continue to make art?

Yes. I am not able to work full time as an artist. I am also an occupational therapist working with children with special needs. Despite the constant juggling for time in my studio I have continued to feel driven to create. 

What do you find beneficial about being an artist in South Orange and Maplewood community?

I am new to the SO/MA area. In less than a year I have met some wonderful artists and become engaged with the arts community through a master class at SOMA adult school and as a member of 1978. These connections have been very valuable. 

Tina received her BFA with a concentration in sculpture from Boston University’s School of Fine Arts. She later earned a M.Ed. from the Creative Arts In Learning Program at Lesley University.

Tina has lived in Brooklyn, New York, Lexington, Massachusetts, and Louisville, Kentucky.  In each of these communities she has been actively involved with community art programs as well as exhibiting her artwork, which ranges from printmaking, mixed media, to mosaics.  Most recently, Tina was in Louisville, where she continued her engagement with her surrounding community and became an artist/facilitator for The Louisville Visual Art Association Open Doors Program.

In the early fall of 2011, Tina returned to the Northeast and settled in Maplewood, NJ. This is her first year participating in the South Orange Maplewood Studio Tour.