Connie Bergum
Artist Statement
Growing up in Helena, Montana was in retrospect a very lucky thing. A hike of only a few blocks had me out of town. There were meadowlarks in the spring, robins nesting in the backyard lilac tree all summer, and geese overhead in the fall. I lived just blocks from the Montana Historical Museum where dioramas told dramatic stories of the west and around the corner was a whole gallery of paintings that told stories, too, by Charlie Russell. I had a mother who loved books and she shared that love with me. And I
had an imagination big enough to take me from a little house packed with a family of nine to far away and long ago worlds. I graduated in 1975 with a BA in Art and French from the University of Montana. I spent the next five years working as a graphic designer – my real education – when my dream of becoming a book illustrator found a foothold in reality. As a child I loved the work of Jesse Wilcox Smith, Barbara Cooney, and Robert McCluskey. But could a girl from Helena, Montana become a book illustrator? Why not? Fanny Corey Cooney did and she had to cook on a wood stove. My next stroke of luck was having a publishing house in my home town when I moved back to Helena – a publisher who was interested in starting a line of picture books. My first illustrated book was M is for Montana – a perfect start to a steady career in illustration. Since then I have illustrated twelve more picture books and another dozen books for educational publishers. In addition I have worked for many years illustrating and sometimes writing for children’s magazines, including Cricket and Ladybug, all while raising three children with my husband Ron. In 1996 I began a four year, long distance MFA program in Illustration and Design from Marywood University to further develop my craft and expand my publishing contacts. I graduated with honors in 2000.
Looking closely at the world, finding the visual story within the written one, and sharing it with readers have been my goals as an illustrator. Whether it is a family of foxes sheltered from a downpour, kids with a kite against a stormy sky, or the hands of an elderly lady on a homemade quilt, I want readers to marvel at the miracles large and small around us. I hope my illustrations continue to do that. While I love book illustration, I have sometimes chafed under the restrictions of this career. I bring my
own vision to the art – but I am interpreting someone else’s words and my creativity is bound by how others see the project – the art director, editor and the writer. Most difficult of all, like an actor or a musician, my ability to create in this medium is dependent on being chosen for the job – and as so many of us in the arts know, the wonderful project is not always there. A degree of frustration and a desire to work more with my hands brought me to clay mosaic and tile. For me, working in clay is quiet,
meditative, hands-on and solitary. After many years of working collaboratively on book projects I am enjoying being in charge of all aspects of a project – from concept to installation. I have not turned my back on illustration but it is wonderful having this new direction in my artistic life.