The Impressionistic-style oil paintings of Bernard Colas take viewers on an odyssey from the meadows of France to the marshes of Florida. The French-born artist says that his work flows from him as naturally as water and is just as necessary.
“It’s something that I need to do, like breathing air,” Colas declares.
Portraits, still-lifes and landscapes form the basis of the portfolio of the painter, who cites French Impressionists such as Monet and Degas as sources of inspiration, as well as contemporary British artist Richard Smith and American artist Kevin Macpherson.
One of his most prized paintings depicts a boy gathering strawberries in a field in the scenic Loire Valley of north-central France, near to where the artist was raised in Orléans. Like many of Colas’ works, the title of this painting is fluid and open to interpretation.
“I want to call it ‘How Sweet It Is’ or ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’,” says Colas.
His Florida-based painting “Wait for Me” received a Best in Theme award in 2025 for the Summer Memories exhibit at the Vero Beach Art Club Gallery.
The fanciful canvas, which illustrates a towheaded boy sprinting through the ocean after a dog that is on a chase of its own after soaring seagulls, is a reimagining of a photograph that Colas captured on the beach.
“I try to be casual about it when I’m taking pictures in public, and then I make sketches at home. I reassemble and build a story. For this painting, I put a dog in the picture and imagined the dog running after seagulls,” Colas explains.
Another work, a dramatic landscape set in Florida, also won the Best in Theme award in a 2024 VBAC Gallery exhibit titled Exploring the Everglades. The richly colored painting dazzles with a burnt sienna sky contrasted with deep charcoal clouds, as the Everglades wilderness awakens on a summer morning.
Colas says his affinity for creating art began in his childhood when his mother, Halina, handed him a sketchpad and pencils, and encouraged him to draw.
“We didn’t have a television in those days. My mother was not an artist herself. She just wanted to keep me busy and out of her hair,” Colas says with a laugh.
While his mother may not have been an artist, his grandfather, Roman, was an accomplished violinist. Motivated by his mother’s encouragement and his grandfather’s talent, Colas enrolled in the renowned École des Beaux Arts in his native Orléans.
In 1965, Colas was 18 when he journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean with his mother and the two settled in Reno, Nev.
“After I arrived in Nevada, I joined the U.S. Navy and then I became a U.S. citizen,” he says with pride.
“I worked in electronics in the Navy, but I also made sketches of my fellow shipmates. Then I sang and spent a few years trying to get into the motion picture business in Los Angeles.”
Although his film aspirations did not pan out, Colas’ painting career is thriving. Now retired, the oil painter, who also dabbles in pastels, happily pursues his craft almost every day.
“I was not brave enough to make art my career when I was younger. But now I always have a camera with me to take pictures of God’s creations.”
One of the artist’s favorite subjects is his wife, Marcia Neese, a fellow artist and a new member of the Artists Guild Gallery. He recently snapped a photo of her reading a book while sitting in the park and transformed it into a painting.
“I like to take pictures outdoors in the early morning or late afternoon when the dark and light are much more pronounced.”
Colas has been active in his studio since relocating to Vero Beach three years ago, and at home, the artistic couple enjoy creating in their own distinct spaces.
“We both have our own studio, thank goodness!” he quips. “We make a great team. I’m fortunate to do what I love alongside my wife Marcia.”
In December, Colas will be the featured guest artist at the Artists Guild Gallery. He is also participating in the Fall Foliage-themed show at the VBAC Gallery and in January at the Art by the Sea Exhibition at the Vero Beach Museum of Art.
“I miss the fall colors of the Sierra Nevada mountains and Lake Tahoe. The vibrant colors of autumn are so interesting to me.”
When he’s not preparing for a local show, you might find Colas working on a rare private commission. He recently completed a portrait of a Shetland sheepdog, and the recreation of a photograph at the request of a local family.
“I painted a girl dipping her feet into water filled with koi fish. There’s a footbridge and a beautiful backyard with a waterfall,” Colas says, evoking a picturesque scene, before adding, “But I don’t normally do commissions.”
What he and his wife prefer is immersing themselves in the creative circle of their adopted hometown.
“We have met a lot of interesting people with a lot of talent in this town. We have made quite a few friends in the artistic community.”
Photos by Joshua Kodis
