I grew up in the twin hamlets of Endicott and Endwell in upstate New York. Drawing, writing, and astronomy are my top three interests.

Called upon to produce planetarium shows during a summer job, I taught myself to paint so I could create visuals for the shows. My first art sales came at a science fiction convention in 1976. I later broadened my artistic skills by getting a degree in studio art from Binghamton University. Eventually I illustrated various science fiction books and magazines, including titles by Isaac Asimov, Piers Anthony, and James Tiptree, Jr. I've sold hundreds of paintings, winning a windowful of awards in the process.

For three years I worked as staff artist at Morehead Planetarium in North Carolina. I still illustrate their shows, albeit as a free lancer working at a distance.

My restlessness led me to make a series of trips to the West, a landscape which has fascinated me since my first visits there as a child. I spent a summer as a volunteer in Utah's Zion National Park, where I used my telescope to acquaint park visitors with the glories of the desert skies. Later, while living in the Mojave Desert, I was tracked down by Time-Life books, spending the next few years producing illustrations for their ambitious book series "Voyage Through the Universe", depicting subjects as diverse as the rings of Saturn and experimental space tethers.

I'm now an Easterner who spends a good part of the year in the West. At the very least, I try to attend the annual Grand Canyon Star Party, during which I talk to more people than I do during the entire rest of the year.

Though most of my artwork now takes digital form, I still treasure my ability to push paint around, and I often have a painting in progress on my drawing table. My other major interest is writing. I've completed my sixth novel, and am working on the seventh. Another recent creation is my "Cosmic Cat" children's book. These books can be purchased here:

http://www.lulu.com/JoeBergeron

My artwork is influenced by more than three decades as an amateur astronomer. I attend star parties all over the country, though most often I can be found out alone on clear nights, either somewhere in the desert or beside a frog-infested pond. I've been privileged to see the sky painted in bold colors by the aurora borealis, the glory of the solar corona during an eclipse, a golden star flickering behind the rings of Saturn, pepper-black spots deposited on the clouds of Jupiter by a rain of comets, and light streaming like water from Comets Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp. More recently, I was enthralled by meteors pouring from the mane of Leo.

At the end of 2001, I was elected a Fellow of the International Association of Astronomical Artists.

My artwork is not restricted to space themes, but includes wildlife, landscapes, fantasy, and figures. My work blends my love of astronomy with interests in nature, mythology, archaeology, wildlife, and mysticism.