Stephen Bergstrom
Table for Two
Brasserie des Arts
Sunday Market
Bougainvillea
Born in 1968 in Seattle, Washington, in a lush atmosphere of the Pacific Northwest, Stephen Bergstrom became aware of his artistic abilities at age twelve. Initially, movies were his avenue of learning: Stephen drew scenes, sculpted characters and observed the effect of lighting and composition created by directors of black and white films of the thirties through the fifties. His grandfather - a prolific painter, writer and engineer - instilled in him the curiosity and artistic expressiveness that bolstered Stephen's growing passion for art.
Entering his first competition at sixteen, Stephen won “Best of Show” at the 1985 Washington Regional Art Show and sold the first of many paintings. This success spurred him to explore his talents in sculpture, photography, painting, and computer graphics —all media he utilizes to this day, although painting is his primary focus. His graduation in 1988 from the Art Institute of Seattle with a degree in Visual Communications & Graphics and Illustration opened the door to an eight-year career illustrating for magazines and newspapers, storyboarding for TV commercials, and creative-consulting for film directors.
Stephen’s method of representing nature, consideration of aesthetics, and range of brush strokes with carefully balanced color harmonies and decorative effects are triumphant. Collectors of his work include corporations such as United Chambers Insured Plans-Bellevue, WA, The Paper Company-Seattle, WA, P.F. Industries-Kirkland, WA, as well as private collectors worldwide.
“Art affects, and is expressed in, all we do, and brings life to a common scene or natural setting.” Bergstrom is attuned to the Impressionists: John Singer Sargent and Claude Monet for the balance between impressionism and expressionism; Gustav Klimt for aesthetic beauty, originality, and themes of color. Nature’s abundance leads to Bergstrom’s gift — a joyous use of color and light, balancing form between impression and diffused realism in his excitement to include the viewer in this experience. Beginning with a full palette of colors, he allows each work to complete its own artistic journey.
“Having a career as an artist is a life study. I start each painting with the same approach, but the painting dictates its own path. It is the spontaneous adventure which creates the style.” Stephen asks his viewers to make a cognitive bridge between the representation of colors and objects. The effects of light on a particular scene and the consideration of aesthetics are all a part of the creation of a Stephen Bergstrom image.
Abstraction, painterly elements, and an extraordinary range of brush strokes direct the eye around his images. Stephen works to capture an instant of light and the harmonic unity of color within that light. A surrealistic tone accomplishes the final objective. By portraying harmony, he depicts the creation of each separate moment, and archives a magnificent copy of that place in time.