maybe it was the pieces of brick she used to pick and eat off the side of the house or the colourful crayola crayons she would devour...who knows...but bernice always did what she wanted to do...so her mother says.

born and raised in toronto, she spread her wings ever so slightly and moved to oakville to study graphic design at sheridan college. after graduating in 1984, she freelanced for several design companies but in 1988, she decided to spread her wings further and fly to london, england.

while she was there, she continued to freelance for numerous design consultants including addison worldwide, michael peters, wolff olins, newell and sorrell...until the computers started to flood into the design world.

having a bit of...actually, alot of 'techno-fear,' she had to make a career decision...either learn to use the bloody thing or do the other thing she loved to do...draw!

so....she became a bike courier while looking for illustration work and if it wasn't for all those people who opened their doors into her or hit her from behind while making those deliveries... she wouldn't have quit her courier job to focus totally on her illustration career.

so far, bernice has a total of 30 books published while continuing her commercial work with clients in the uk, north america and japan. her first two books '12 steps to heaven' and 'more steps to heaven' sold over 150,000 thousand copies worldwide.

after a nine year stint in the uk...bernice now resides in toronto in her little white house and her little dog, mack (an english bull terrier) who loves to hump pylons...it's true.

solo exhibitions

2003	'naughty but nice' john steinberg and associates, toronto, canada
2004	'frig' john steinberg and associates, toronto, canada
2004	'girl drawings' drake hotel, toronto, canada
2006	'launch of the lumbuds' Omy gallery, toronto, canada
2006	'open' minimarket, toronto, canada
2006	'lick' czehoski, toronto canada
2007	'lick' cucina, toronto, canada

group exhibitions

2002	illustration series, ogilvy and mathers gallery, toronto, canada
2005	'girls club' x-space gallery, toronto, canada
2005	'pickupsbreakupsfuckups' supermarket, toronto, canada
2006	'hello dolly' spin gallery, toronto, canada
2006	'M is for Mischief' supermarket, toronto, canada
2006	'yearbook' spin gallery, toronto, canada
2007	'mini cooper launch' the distillery, toronto, canada

awards

1997	honourable mention 'if i had a dog' series covers, published by bloomsbury children's books uk by the association of illustrators, uk
1997	shortlisted 'if i had a dog' series, childrens book of the year, uk
1999	early childhood literary award 'pippin takes a bath' published by kidscan press, canada by lieutenant governor, new brunswick, canada
2003	best children's book of the year, my pet hamster, published by harpercollins childrens books, usa by bank street college
2004	portfolio.com awards gold 'willow academy logo' corporate category silver 'soap' editorial category bronze 'mighty maddie cover' book category merit 'whoops! cover' book category
2005	gold 'browndog' logo corporate category merit 'baubleland' editorial category merit 'self promo' self promo category merit 'girl series' illustration series category
2006	silver 'rooftoplove' miscellaneous category merit 'muskrat festival' corporate category merit 'your diagnosis' editorial category