The Berkeland Studio

My Mom

I recently said goodbye to my Mom, Karen.  She was 60 years old.  She fought cancer bravely for 5 years.  She never stopped living right up to the end.  She was my proudest collector and most generous benefactor. She was the most loving mom.  I miss her and I love her.

Poly Canyon Trestle Print and Posters

The Trestle in Poly Canyon is now available as a print and as a poster. 

I'll be offering the framed 17 x 24 in. fine art print on canvas for a special price for a short time so check in out!

FINE ART PRINT HERE

POSTER HERE

Poly Canyon Trestle

Cal Poly Agriculture fields and the road going out to the trestle on the way up into "The Canyon".  This original oil painting measures 39"x55" and will also be available as a fine art print.  Please contact me for info on either of those options.

Thomas Lee Gallery - Ashland, OR

My work can now be found up in Oregon.  Thomas Lee Gallery is located in Ashland, Oregon off Hwy. 5 in the same town as the Oregon Shakespeare festival. Owner Thomas Lee Bean has consulted with clients for over 10-years to bring outstanding artists into collections around the world.  If you're up and down the 5, stop in a check it out!

Back into the Fire

Many of you know that when I first started painting almost 13 years ago, I was earning my keep by cooking in a guesthouse in Tuscany, Italy.  Well, an opportunity has come up here in San Luis Obispo for me to dust off those old cooking chops and teach classes in the ways of Mediterranean cooking at Sustenance Studio.  We've had a few classes so far and the response has been encouraging.  Find out more on the Sustenance Studio webpage.

A new series of Central Coast paintings is on the way, but in the meantime, so is some good old world cooking!

Buy a print, get my book FREE

During the month of August, I'm going to include a FREE copy of my portfolio book - BERKELAND: Original Oil Paintings 1997-2008 with each Fine Art Print ordered.

If you already have this book, you can give your new copy away as a nice gift, or you can let me know and I can substitute one of my previous books in your order.

See all available Fine Art Prints here.

New Eucalyptus Prints

 

My two newest Morro Bay Eucalyptus paintings are now available as Fine Art Prints on Canvas.  Please visit my Fine Art Prints page to see all paintings that are available as canvas prints.  Please Email me with questions.

Morro Bay Eucalyptus Grove II

A Eucalyptus Grove in Morro Bay on California's Central Coast.  Measures 24 x 60 in.  Please contact me for more info.

North Beach Aglow

An afternoon view across North Beach from Russian Hill in San Francisco.  Measures 30 x 30 in.  Please contact me for more information.

Sunset Over Russian Hill

Sunset over Russian Hill in San Francisco, CA.

Oil on Canvas measuring 44x44 in.  Please contact me for availability.

In the Studio: Rättvik

The cool part about Sweden in the summer is that you can paint all day and still have endless hours of daylight in the evening.  So the routine lately has been - paint all day, dinner, then an evening swim in the lake.  It's been in the 80's since we've been here.

The paintings in progress are some scenes from San Francisco (around Russian Hill) that have been floating around in my head for several years.  And I'm reworking that Central Coast Oaks painting on the left.

Passing through the Central Coast?

I'm out of town this summer but if you are passing through the Central Coast (and you should) please stop in and see my latest work in Cambria at The Vault Gallery and at Fiona Bleu in Morro Bay. 

Lot's of original oil paintings and tons of prints, too!

Sweden: A Little Backstory

That's my little girl, Molly.  We're spending the summer in Sweden.  My wife, Caroline, is from here and Molly was born here 15 months ago.  Thought I'd post something I wrote about Sweden a while back.  In it I wrote that Sweden and I "haven't exactly clicked" but I have to say, I'm really getting into this Swedish summer thing!

You can order any or all of my 3 books in my Blurb Bookstore.  The following is an excerpt from my first book, B E R K E L A N D: Original Oil Paintings 1997-2008:

I married into Sweden. There's a little bit of Norwegian blood coursing through my veins, but even so, there's no telling if I would have otherwise made it to Scandinavia had I not met Caroline. There are places where you really feel like you are in the thick of things. New York and Rome come to mind. Then there are places where you know you are on the fringe. Sweden sometimes feels like it is halfway to the moon.

It's a weird place. Not what you'd expect, if you do, in fact, expect something. First off, there is no Matterhorn there. That's Switzerland. Whole other country. No, I haven't seen any bikini teams, and, for that matter, haven't seen much of anyone at all. There are almost no people in Sweden and that sparseness is tangible. There are candles and wooden horses and little gnome things everywhere. These people eat more candy and drink more coffee than anyone else in the world. They're a bunch of hot rod driving, RV enthusiasts who listen to home brewed polka-rock based on American standards and then dance around a pole like frogs on the longest day of the year. Their hospitals birth their babies for free (relatively speaking) and when you set off for such disease-riddled destinations as, say, the United States, they'll ask if you've protected yourself with all the right shots.

I'll be honest. Sweden and I haven't exactly clicked, yet. It's funny. The people who look most like me on earth and the meat and potato diet that most resembles that of my childhood still leaves me feeling like something of an interloper best regarded with skepticism. But there are two factors that do redeem Sweden for me. Actually the first one alone would have been enough. Family. Sweden could have been on the moon and the fact that my wife's family lives there would have been all the reason I'd need to spend significant amounts of time there.

But Sweden is not on the moon, which leads to the second factor - that Sweden is actually very beautiful. The harshness of the dark, cold winter is balanced by the chilly brilliance of the afternoon sun perforating the leafless birch woods as it sets into any one of a thousand Swedish lakes. In the summer, the sun never really sets at all. It just glides behind the trees and along the horizon for hours before settling in for a dusklike power nap.

I have no choice. Sweden is part of my life now and I will be going back often. I will learn the language and I will eat fermented herring respectfully. I will dance like a frog and I will watch Pippi Longstocking DVD's with my daughter. And I will earn it all by digesting my Swedish experiences onto canvas, as I've done wherever I've ended up over the years.

BUY THE BOOK NOW!

Free Shipping in June

The company that prints my posters and notecards, Zazzle, is offering free shipping in the month of June if you use the promo code JUNESHIPFREE at checkout.  Checkout all of my posters here.

Highway 46

The view from near the top of Highway 46 between Cambria and Paso Robles on the California Central Coast.  Measures 24x60 in.  Available from The Vault Gallery in Cambria, CA.

A Little Backstory: Jamaica

 

You can order any or all of my 3 books in my Blurb Bookstore.  The following is an excerpt from my first book, Just Another Day:

Caroline and I were married in Jamaica on October 26, 2006. With all of her family being in Sweden, mine being spread out around the states, and most of our common friends being where we met in Italy, it became clear that it would have been logistically and economically impossible to gather together a meaningful group of family and friends for a traditional wedding. So we looked on a globe for a place between Sweden and California where we could meet and get married. Someplace where neither of us had been before. Someplace romantic. Preferably with a beach. And good food. Jamaica!

We’re not really resort types, but we figured that since we had spent years catering to the needs of travelers at the guesthouse in Italy, then spending a week having our own needs catered to was more than fair. The resort was impressive and the service first class. We only got offered drugs twice by the staff, but even those were friendly and surprisingly professional solicitations. The food was of the highest quality and the beach was immaculate every morning after an army of maintenance workers cleared every scrap of garbage or tree part from the entire stretch of sand lining the resort. And thanks to Pastor Lloyd, Cecil the photographer, and Tameka, the wedding coordinator who stood by to towel off my sweaty head between photos, our private wedding ceremony was as special as we had hoped.

What you don’t see on Travelocity, however, is the amount of effort that goes into separating the resort from the rest of Jamaica.

The Vault Gallery

Good weekend to swing by The Vault Gallery in Cambria.  It's fully stocked and ready for the spring break masses!

Oak with Bishop's Peak

A California Central Coast oak tree with Bishop's Peak in the distance.  Measures 24x60in.  Please contact me for availability.

Eucalyptus Grove

This painting of a Morro Bay Eucalyptus grove measures 24x60 in.  Please contact me for availability.

Posters, Notecards, and Mugs

Please visit my Zazzle gift shop to see all of the latest posters, notecards, and mugs. Posters come in several different sizes and can be printed on a range of papers. There are even options for matting and framing.


make custom gifts at Zazzle