Story-filled Landscapes, Scenes and Figures

Artwork by Bernard Simbari • Exhibit runs from Nov 12 to Dec 31, 2022.

ARTIST STATEMENT: Exposure to regular art therapy sessions has pushed me to create original (“out of my head”) abstract artworks. More often though, art expression with pencil and colored pens has found me drawn to Santa Fe/Taos, New Mexico and southern Utah landscapes or Native American scenes. I also enjoy doing my own takes on masterworks from art magazines and books and doing original works from photographs. With most all of these compositions I like to challenge myself and incorporate great detail and vibrant(some say fauvist) explosions of color.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: After a stroke in 2007, I began art and music therapy in the fall of 2008 and soon realized a talent for drawing with my non-dominant hand (left arm unaffected by stroke). Since November 2009, I have produced over 375 colored pen “paintings” on paper. Many have been inspired by impressionist masterworks from books and magazines, but I’ve also done free-hand paintings of landscapes of Torrey, UT and nearby Capitol Reef N.P., original still lifes and abstracts, and paintings from photographs. Before my stroke, I was a dermatologist for 35 years in the Salt Lake valley, art collector and home restorer. “Art for Non-majors” was my worst grade in college, and now after a stroke, art expression has given me a huge “lift” and countless hours of enjoyment.