Brackendale artist Carol Ann Berkley’s entire home is a bright, exquisite, ever-evolving art gallery.
From the intricately painted table in the home’s front entrance, that has images of family items special to Berkley, to the life-sized Bella the Bear on the main floor, to the magical copper hat that hangs from the ceiling in her upstairs studio, the home is bedazzled with decades of her work. Unbelievably, the work in her home just scratches the surface of what the prolific artist has created.
Most of her pieces are in the homes of clients who have commissioned her to create anything from a tropical-theme in their bathroom or birdhouse tiled kitchen to a pet portrait or an incredibly detailed wine cellar door. Photos of these works are kept in stacks of binders Berkley leafs through remarking on the kindness of this client or the intricacy of that piece.
The Squamish Chief took a tour of Berkley’s home to talk to her about her life and art. What follows is an edited version of that conversation.
Q: How long have you lived in this wonderful house?
A: Almost 23 years. We designed this house. I previously lived in Florida.
Q: Were your parents artistic?
A: As much as they could be. They were farmers so boy they worked endlessly, but any school project or anything like that my mom was right in there. My dad was a real doer so he found ways to make things work. I really got that from him.
Q: Were you always creative?
A: I guess I was, yes. I went into music. I am a singer and I did professional theatre in Calgary. Often singers and performers are also painters. I am really interested in developing my talent and expressing myself. I really like to do that. I am a seamstress and clothing designer, as well. I do custom tile work too, of course.
Q: When clients commission something, like tile work, they want to personalize their homes to their vision. As an artist, is it hard to fulfill someone else’s vision?
A: No, not for me. That is something very unique to me as opposed to a number of other wonderful artists around here. They march to their own muse. They see things their own way and they produce what they see. But with me, I am really a visualization person. If you came to me and said, “I want to do the tiles in my kitchen,’ we would have a good long chat about what you want and I would see it, already finished. I tell clients what I see, come back with some ideas and then I do it and help install it. And then we have a party for the installation, or afterwards! People get excited about their pieces.
Q: This fabric bear is taller than me and absolutely gorgeous. Tell me about her.
A: She’s wonderful. She took me a month or something like that to make. She is Bella the Bear. Something different about my work as well – there’s always a story behind it. People are invited to be involved in the story; with Bella, she has 11 messages on her and you have to find them.
She was for the Olympics in 2010. She was in the arts building downtown. I was asked for a bear because we are bear country down here and so I said no problem. I had a beautiful bag of all these scraps so I started making her. Some pieces of fabric on her belonged to my grandmother – samplers they were called – some I fortuitously found down at Pearls Value and Vintage store, I walked in and there was a big bag of stuff. She also recently went to a wedding. My neighbour got married – it was a vintage-themed wedding – and I was the matron of honour, and we invited the bear. I got her a tiara and the bride got her a child’s veil.
Q: Working with so many clients over many years, what have you learned about the people you work for?
A: What is so delightful to me is that people have such wonderful imaginations. I am thrilled to bring their ideas to life. They are the muse, I am the deliverer.
Q: You’ve been here long enough to see so much change to Squamish. What do you think of how everything is changing?
A: Oh, it is all good now. When we first moved here to Brackendale we had issues over development and we were very instrumental in helping our community. The airport expansion – that was when the then council accepted a proposal by a U.S. person who wanted to fly 20 planes a day into the airport and bus people to Whistler. I worked full time on that and with a small team, we stopped it.
To see more of Berkley’s art go to www.finedesigns.ca.
Bella the Bear
