Nature whispers 'meet me here'

Swedish San Francisco-based artist Charlotte Bernstrom explores feelings about nature and our place in it. 

  • "Silent Rocks" - a painting created just after the artist's return from a visit to the Swedish archipelago. Bernström uses sand and fragments of stone in her paint, often layers of paint, thus creating a three-dimensional feel in her work. Studio notes: "The archipelago is vast and boundless. An abundance of islands all around you. The boat and I become a dot in the seascape. I am raw within the elements, in the midst of an eternal power." Photo: Phil Saltonstall
  • Reverence for the natural world is the oldest theme in art. Many of the earliest known artworks depicted the relationship of humans and animals. Such reverence has resounded throughout the history of art and all its myriad developments, but only relatively recently have artists felt moved to put their talents to work in ways that might benefit the planet.

  • Such motivation is behind “Nature whispers ‘Meet me here!’ — an invitation to connect, participate and cherish,” an exhibit of paintings by Marin County artist Charlotte Bernström, which runs now through January 28, 2018. A portion of the proceeds of sales of her paintings go to Cool Effect, a non-profit environmental organization that promotes simple technologies to combat climate change caused by carbon emissions.

  • A native of Sweden, Bernström began her art career working with her grandfather, a plein air painter who helped instill in her a lifelong love of nature. Bernström's previous SF exhibition: 'The Internal Landscape'

  • As the mother of a preschooler, she has become increasingly alarmed about the world her son Cameron will inherit. This concern has had a profound effect on her paintings, whose often lushly colored, deeply textured, soft-focus impressions convey an abiding love for the natural world and deep concern about its future.

  • For more info on the artist see www.charlottebernstrom.com

  • Robert Green Fine Arts, 154 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley, CA 94949 415.381.8776 / rgfa@sbcglobal.net /www.rgfinearts.com