About
Berdell Moffett-Chaney’s passion to paint was so strong that, once she realized how important it was to her, she was willing to do anything to make it happen. She and her wife, Casey, and their son, Corey were living in an apartment complex in Beaverton when the painting bug bit hard. Berdell was talking about it with Casey, who had no idea Berdell could paint. Casey said to her, “Let’s go get what you need,” and off they went to the nearest crafts store.
It was 1995, and the internet was just an infant; regardless, Cheap Joe’s became a daily catch name for Berdell. Their 2-bedroom apartment came with a single car garage. Since the bedrooms were occupied by the 3 household humans and their two dogs, the garage became the targeted art studio. But damn! it was cold! Berdell set up her new studio with the necessary equipment, lights and furniture, then added several space heaters and hung big blankets all around her workspace. It was about as perfect as could be, despite the cold.
Each day, Berdell would go out into her studio and paint for hours. She began accumulating a boatload of watercolor paintings, and together, she and her family began planning a show. The apartment complex had a wonderful large recreation space, complete with walls for displaying her work. Berdell and Casey were the Senior Ministers of their church at the time, so the congregation became the first invited guests. They, in turn, invited friends and family.
Shortly before the show, Corey and Casey were taking out the trash. As they entered the garbage area, to their horror, they saw bags and bags of paintings Berdell had decided to throw out. Together, Corey and Casey schlepped all the bags back to their apartment and confronted Berdell with the situation. They would have none of this, so they took it upon themselves to get frames for the rescued paintings. The first show took place just before the Winter Holidays, and every painting sold, even the “Garbage.”
In 2005, Casey was looking at a home in NE Portland. It had a huge room on the main floor that screamed “Art Studio!” and she thought to herself, “If only this home had a Master Bedroom Suite as well, it would be perfect.” Well, guess what? It did! Since then, Berdell’s art studio has been a hub for all of her artwork, including her Watercolors, Mixed Media, Collage, Paint Pouring, and her newest passion, Polymer Clay. In addition, she teaches Zoom classes right out of her studio, and she loves every minute of it.
If there were only two words to describe her art life today, they would be these: PURE JOY!