My Story

daliasart

Dalia Hartman Bergsagel

 

"This is my body telling me I need to paint more"

This is precisely what I said at the doctor's office in the hospital at the end of 2013 on hearing I needed to undergo a mastectomy.  And then the spontaneity came back. The spontaneity which disappeared the moment I went to Art School so many years ago. So I started painting again the way I did as a kid - without worrying about who was going to like it, who was going to buy it, what colours other people will like. Painting from the heart, painting because I had the need, painting just what I felt like painting. (Dalia's Art)

I have been painting and drawing and making things since I remember myself.

 

 

My dream was to be a professional artist and I did an Art Foundation course and a BA(Hons) degree course in Graphic Design at St Martin's School of Art in London (now Central St Martins).

 

This enabled me to develop an award-winning and fulfilling career as a graphic designer and art director for childrens' books. Between 1978 to 2002 I worked, mainly as a freelancer, with companies such as The Design Quarter (San Diego), Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (San Diego) and in the UK: Walker Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, Orion Books, Simon & Schuster, Macdonald young Books, Random House, The Bodley Head, Frances Lincoln Children Books, Orchard, Puffin Books, Kingfisher, Andersen Press and Julia Macrae Books etc. 

I won a lot of design awards including AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts), Design and Art Direction, Book Builders West and designed a Kurt Maschler Awarded book. I also had work published in Art Direction Book Co - Letterheads and mentions of designs in the Children's Books Council newsletters. I was also commissioned to produce a bespoke piece of embroidery on canvas which was published in the David & Charles book The Embroiderer's Garden by Thomasina Beck.

 

My art career took a back seat after I became ill with chronic fatigue and needed to focus on my health. I became a Shiatsu therapist and I run a successful international business, with my husband, as wellness consultants with Nikken. Throughout the many years of travelling all over the world I never stopped making patchworks and tapestries, did etchings and stained glass with my children and the occasional painting

 

I have now come full circle and have started my new art business - all my art is unique and I'll be glad to answer questions and speak about commissions also.

To discuss commissions, exhibitions, orders, or simply to say “hello”

Contact Me