Cindy Berceli Portfolio
Biography
Cindy Berceli was born in Washington, Pennsylvania. Her family moved to California when she was four and they lived near families of different religions and nationalities. She was often found looking after other children if they scraped a knee or had a runny nose. On returning to PA, her family lived near W & J College, and rented rooms in their home to college students, one of whom was from Korea. Growing up, her family had several pets and she has always been an animal lover. Cindy enjoyed painting and was thrilled to receive a John Nagy Art Kit one Christmas. Her Mom saved a project from 2nd grade where she won 1st prize for her painting, and answered the question, what do you want to be when you grow up, with an artist or a nurse.
Cindy has four grown children and she worked as a Pediatric Nurse in Pennsylvania, Germany, Colorado, and Florida. She has studied painting with some amazing artists, two of her favorites, Harley Brown and Bettina Steinke. She started out working in oil and switched to pastel when her children were young.
A member of the Pastel Society of America, the Maryland Pastel Society, The Pittsburgh Pastel Artist League, East Suburban Artist League, past member and board member of both ESAL and Penn Art Association. In 1996 Cindy was commissioned to create art work for program covers for the Pittsburgh
Symphony and to create a painting of the city of Pittsburgh for the Paul Wirth Company. Her painting “Hat Baby” appeared in “Signature”, the journal of the American Society of Portrait Artists. In 2011 she was chosen for and published in the book, “The Best of Worldwide Wildlife Artists”. Cindy was invited to have a solo exhibition in June 2019 at the Merrick Gallery in New Brighton, PA.
Cindy lives and works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her love of animals and children from all parts of the world, are the energy and force behind much of her work.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Pastel has been my choice of medium since I had children. I can return to it at any time with no ill effects, and once I tried it, I was on an exploration of discovery. It has been exciting to use with all subjects, but I really love using pastels when painting animals and children. I am drawn to their cute faces, their quirkiness and their eyes! I love eyes! I find subjects everywhere, in parks, neighborhoods, sidewalks, playgrounds, zoos, always catching my attention. My radar hons in on one and the desire to paint takes over. I take photos, sketch, research, and plan out the piece. Then I get to work painting.
My studio can be a haven if all is going smoothly or a place of intense struggle if a work is not going like I was prepared for it to go. Either way, it is always a learning process. Working on the paintings is exciting from the start. I am fascinated by the features, especially the eyes! I use both pastel sticks and pencils to create the contrast between skin, beaks, eyes, and the softness of hair.
My focus the past few years has been on how light lands on subjects and affects the way we see things. Contrasts and reflections make for interesting paintings. I am always anxious to paint the eyes as there is so much to develop and explore, to draw you into the painting. Those eyes…….
