Ali Percival Bergin

As long as I can remember, I have always had an inclination to be artistic but struggled with the practicality of it. As a young girl, performing arts was my creative outlet though I often thought my involvement could not feasibly last. At the University of Oklahoma, I began my college career in Dance only to end it with Journalism and Advertising – my perfect solution to blending my need for creativity with the prudence of earning a living. During the working years that followed, I found myself on the business side of advertising and not enough on the creative side. Finally breaking free of my perceived need to conform to corporate America, I have most recently discovered that I can express my creative urges on canvas. Far too much in this world is difficult, dark and ‘corporate’. People, ideas and objects that impact me the most are those that offer simplicity with a splash of cheer. I enjoy finding the bright side of things and interrupt others’ typical negativity with silver linings and Pollyanna possibilities. Therefore I prefer simple art subjects that provide bursts of color. My current focus is birds. I find them entertaining and consider them messengers of lightheartedness. To me, birds are symbolic of majestic or angelic beings, so I add Byzantine or classic halos and crowns. They have helped me develop new ways of expressing my freedom, enthusiasm, levity and song. I tend to start my paintings with one or two colors and then work my composition into the color theme using a base combination of Kilz and acrylics or watercolors, and then adding prisma colors and pastels.