Creating heartfelt images has been a consistent theme throughout Jaqueline Holland Berkley's life. Whether she is developing concepts on paper, canvas or metal plates, she strives to draw honest and intriguing lines, to investigate the beautiful as well as the odd, and to illuminate the common. Berkley's aim for her art is to convey a sense of mystery and wonder. Her human forms, which are abstracted and stray from the literal, are part of an array of graphic symbols and universal patterns inspired by primitive cultures that Berkley references. 

Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Berkley started drawing as a young child, and was creating sophisticated oil paintings by age 13. As her beloved and inspirational grandmother was a professional writer, the young artist was sure she was going to follow that path. But her parents were consistently supportive of her artistic talents as well. Berkley graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, and began teaching in the public school system of Pensacola, Florida soon after. 

Garnering recognition for her artwork on the exhibition circuit, her work was being collected by a growing number of fans. Over the course of her career, Berkley has been honored with numerous awards and exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the country. Her work can be found in many notable private and public collections including those of the Disney Corporation, Exxon Corporation, Universal Studios, Federal Express, Larson Juhl, Inc. and the Ritz Carlton Corporation. 

Admirers of her artwork often say that they can instantly recognize a landscape of a scenery painted by Berkley. Even if it's of a place or image entirely of her own creation, viewers feel a sense of peace and welcoming from the works of this gifted artist. Berkley experiments with a variety of different styles and techniques, resulting in artworks that are quite different from each other. From softly outlined solitary figures to bold abstracts and beyond, Berkley brings it. “I don’t think you can be an artist without being obsessive,” she says, “and I become very fixated with and in whatever series I’m immersed in until I feel it’s time to move on, whether I’ve solved the problem or not.” But, she adds, “I like to keep the final interpretation of my work up to the viewer. That’s why I’ve always been drawn to abstraction. I can put a story in the painting, but it’s open-ended and each viewer can complete it in their own way. That someone will be inspired is what I strive for.”