ABOUT
Bernard Trainor was raised on the Mornington Peninsula along Australia’s rugged South Eastern Coast near the city of Melbourne. It was here that he developed a lasting awareness and appreciation of the potent landscapes that inspired him to pursue a career in art and design. Arriving in Northern California twenty-five years ago, he is the founding principal of Ground Studio, a landscape architecture practice with studios in Monterey, Santa Barbara, and Napa.
Bernard combines his art and design in a studio, deep within his private garden adjacent to his home, and this personal, sacred, and dynamic experience has a significant effect on his creative life. Like the great Earthwork pioneers of the 60’s and 70’s, he approaches his art through a very personal lens. His paintings explore the lasting images he has ‘absorbed’ living on the edge of the Australian and Californian coastline and their dramatic changes over time. Affected by memory, climate change, drought and fires, these experiences have formed a distinct point of view that Bernard translates onto canvas. Much like his landscape design, his paintings aim to capture the complex margins between what is natural and what is man made, the tension and beauty that co-exist when the lines are blurred, and the struggle for survival.
Bernard seeks to encapsulate the essence of the human experience intertwined with the land—its challenges and triumphs, its historical tapestry, and the ever-evolving collaboration between humanity and the Earth. His paintings invite viewers to embark on a visual journey that transcends the canvas, prompting contemplation on the fragility of existence, the resilience of the human spirit, and the symbiotic dance between nature and creativity.
At the heart of his work lies a profound observation of the land, capturing the nuanced intersections where nature and human collaboration converge. Through a lens of introspection, Bernard’s artistic journey weaves a narrative of the struggle for survival, an ode to resilience in the face of adversity. Click here to view CV
GROUND STUDIO
Bernard is the founding principal and design director of Ground Studio, a team of artists and designers working together to envision and craft contextual California landscapes, thoughtfully balancing the character of the land, the identity of the architecture, and the lifestyles of people who live there. Designing in a range of scales from compact urban gardens to expansive rural sites, our designs inspire a deep connection with the land.
Drawing on thirty-five years of passionate commitment to the study and practice of landscape design Bernard has completed four academic programs, practiced professionally in three countries, and continues to lecture extensively on the subject of Landscape Design throughout the world.