Listen to the interview here!
Bernadette Bresnahan
Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece. Welcome to the Get Inspired! Project brought to you by Berks County Living magazine. Today I am with Bernadette Bresnahan. Welcome to the Get Inspired! Project!
Bernadette: Thank you so much.
Toni: Take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Bernadette: I am 37 years old. I have two children; one is 5, and the other one is 7. My husband is a teacher at Governor Mifflin. He teaches English. I am a stay-at-home mom/painter. I’ve been painting for 15 years now. I graduated from Kutztown University with an art education degree and have had my own business for a while now. I do hand painted furniture, and I paint on walls. I really enjoy the creative process – working with different people. It’s really fun.
Toni: It sounds like it’s fun, and unfortunately people can't see you doing these podcasts, but it looks like you have fun doing it. Let’s get into the first question of the Project. What does inspiration mean to you?
Bernadette: Inspiration is drawing from what I see. I’m a very visual person, so if I see something that would get me to want to do something creatively with what I see, I draw upon that when I’m working. If I’m driving and I'm looking at something like nature, or one of the biggest things for me with my business is the change of seasons, I draw upon what I see. Right now it’s autumn, so if I’m doing things that I think would sell with my business with paintings, I would be choosing those things to paint.
Toni: Give me an example of how you put that into practice here in Berks County. When you’re inspired, give me an example of when you were inspired and what it became here in Berks County.
Bernadette: With the classes that I teach at Junk to Jazz, mostly. Sometimes people have parties at their home, but I’ll choose a subject that I will teach to the students that come to my classes, and they’re usually ones that have to do with the seasons. We’re going to have one coming up, and they’re going to be painting an owl. It’s going to be a winter owl, and there’s going to be a little bit of snow in it and they’ll be creating too, based on what I’m teaching them to do.
Toni: How do you transfer the creativity? Since yours is based around inspiration, what inspires you, and then you bring that to life through your painting, how do you transfer that inspiration and get other people inspired as you’re teaching them?
Bernadette: I would have to say that I just love what I do, and I think they see it and feel it. When I am in front of them teaching the class, they already know what they’re going to paint before they do, so they’re excited about coming anyway. I think that I’m motivating them by suggesting that they try it at home by themselves or I say, “You can do this for somebody else now, since you know how to do it,” and that type of thing.
Toni: So they trust you during their creative process.
Bernadette: Yes, I think so.
Toni: Who in Berks County inspires you?
Bernadette: I think the people that come to my classes do. I’m thinking about the women that come and take a chance on something they’ve probably never done before since they were kids. A lot of people haven’t done any painting since they were a child, sometimes in high school. Just them stepping out of their comfort zone to try something new is very inspiring to me.
Toni: Have you yourself been through that? Have you stepped out of your own comfort zone?
Bernadette: Yes.
Toni: Can you give an example of that?
Bernadette: By starting this business. I think initially when I first started and somebody would say to me, “You’re going to paint on a wall? Aren’t you afraid you’re going to mess up?” I said, “I don’t know unless I try, and I can always paint over it.” That was the beginning part of going to somebody’s house with their new wall, painting something in their bathroom or their kitchen and then having them trust me to do it and follow through. It was a little bit of a nervous energy that I had, but it felt good when I was finished and I said, “I can do this.”
Toni: So that’s why you’re inspired to see other people do that, to go through that?
Bernadette: Yes.
Toni: Again, for you, you’re inspired by something that you can see. It’s that visibility, so you can see somebody else trust and be inspired as you’re teaching them, which inspires you.
Bernadette: Yes.
Toni: What would you like your legacy to be?
Bernadette: I would like people to think about me in a way that I enjoyed my life, that I shared myself with who I really am. I am naturally who I am, and I want people to be who they are, to take a step into whatever their interests are. People always say when I come into a room, if they know me, “There’s the artist!” I feel like I am an artist, and I feel that’s a big part of my makeup. My kids are very creative. It’s how we operate.
Toni: So your legacy would be for people to remember and realize not just a legacy when someone is gone, but a living legacy is also so important. That living legacy for you right now is that you are exactly who we see, and that artist is there and you can trust that artist and you want to also inspire others to be who they want to be. That’s what I’m hearing from you.
Bernadette: Yes, that’s true.
Toni: That’s magic, actually. That’s very cool.
Bernadette: Thanks.
Toni: Thank you so much for being part of the Project.
Bernadette: Sure. Thank you.
Toni: You’re welcome.
Bernadette Bresnahan
