Events

Camaraderie brews in local artists group

ESCONDIDO ---- Picasso had a posse. In fact, many great artists have had disciples. At Cafe Artista in Escondido, Guy Bernardo is grandfather to a diverse group of portraitists, landscapists and still lifers. And they all have a story about meeting their mentor.

A show featuring local artists is under way at Cafe Artista. Posing for a picture from the left, Guy Bernardo, Bradley Kaskin, John Barrett, Darrel McPherson, Alicia Sotherland, Peter Gorwin and Janet Perkin.

Guy Bernardo is: an artist, raconteur and jack-of-all-trades ---- and he turns 95 in two weeks. Since making the cafe his daily hangout a few years ago, Bernardo has become a teacher to any artists looking for criticism or inspiration. "I'm more or less acting as a guru," Bernardo said. "I tell them where their mistakes are."

"We enjoy each other's work," said Bradley Kaskin. "There's no backbiting or competition. That's unusual in this industry." Kaskin, a watercolorist for 50 years, said he owes some of his humility to Bernardo. Kaskin remembered bringing his picture of a horse for critique. "I held it up, and the first thing he said was, 'You forgot the shadow behind his left leg.'"

A loosely-knit club formed about a year ago, and the comrades meet with Bernardo every week for lunch. "He's basically the magnet that's drawn us together," McPherson said. Now, a mixed collection of their works is on display in a first annual joint exhibit at Cafe Artista, which is located in a shopping center at 427 N. Escondido Blvd.

Edited from the Andrew Phelps story for the North County Times 11/16/2005