Meet Clara Berta | Abstract artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Clara Berta and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Clara, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
Meditation has been great for me both personally and for my creative process. Recently I joined a 6 a.m. meditation group facilitated by the wonderful, supportive facilitator Jani McGuire from Mindful Meditation Retreats.

I spend a lot of time at my studio during the day and at home in the evenings preparing dinners. My partner is going through health issues and so he needs more care as well. So it’s important for me to make sure I take time for myself. Exercise is really important to me, so is being in nature, and I am learning to have more fun in my daily life to balance out the challenging moments. For example, yesterday we had doctors appointments so I also took my partner out for a nice lunch and a mani/pedi!

Being an artist is part of my identity and my work is very personal, it’s not something I can leave at the studio door at the end of the day. So it’s important to me that my work brings me joy and I can share this joy with others. My partner loves to come to my studio and also do some creative work himself.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Q: How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges?

Art making began as a healing process. I find creating art very therapeutic and it helped me to process my grief following a great loss. The experience was so profound that I decided to commit myself to becoming a professional artist.

Alongside professional training and hard work, taking this step involved a lot of faith and trust in myself. I had to learn to be vulnerable and open so that I could create artworks that touch people. This has always been a goal of my work – to reach people on a deep emotional level. Meditation became an essential part of my creative process, allowing me to access parts of my inner self and bring them out on the canvas without fear.

Today, my art practice is still a healing practice – this work is ongoing. The pandemic brought major challenges. I had to close my beautiful gallery and studio space in Downtown LA and move my studio into my home. Working from home was a challenge because of the large-scale I like to work on and the physical nature of my process, but also a huge mental challenge. I tried to stay positive and never stop creating. Meditation was really important during this time!

Since May this year I have been working from my new studio space in Hemet. Having the room to move and dance around my large canvases has been so energizing and inspiring.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Downtown LA has a special place in my heart – it’s where I established myself as an artist. It’s such a diverse and creative area with lots of galleries, artist studios, and community spaces. I would recommend putting on some comfortable walking shoes and going on self-guided tour of the local galleries directed by nonprofit organization Downtown Art Walk, taking an architectural tour of the historic buildings, visiting The Broad Museum, and just walking the streets and soaking up the atmosphere.

Downtown has great restaurants and nightlife – we would visit one of many rooftop bars for a fantastic view!

For something special, I would take a friend to Malibu to enjoy incredible sushi for lunch at Nobu and a walk on the beach.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The mentorship of Roger Washington, founder of Ronewa Art Projects, has been so integral to developing myself as a professional artist. Having people who recognize your talent and support you in the ways you might not be able to support yourself is so important.

Website: https://ClaraBerta.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clarabertaart/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClaraBertaArt

Image Credits
Portrait photos by Rick Medoza