Celebrating the little details of life through pattern and paint.

Celebrating the little details of life through pattern and paint.

Mikaela Bernhardt of Mikaela Karthik Design is a mural artist and surface pattern designer based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Her style evokes a delicate sense of calm with a bold sense of playfulness. Other words people have used to describe her recognizable art style are earthy, intricate, organic, elegant, and unique. She draws inspiration from mindful moments, botanicals, global travel / culture, her husband’s Southern Indian heritage, abstract expression, and her background in landscape architecture.

Mikaela is available for custom hand painted mural work, art licensing, brand collaborations, and custom seamless pattern designs.

When Mikaela isn’t creating you can find her sipping coffee at a local Berkeley coffee shop, reading true crime novels, dancing at The Dance Floor in Albany, and cooking yummy nutrient dense foods.

A woman with curly blonde hair and fair skin standing outdoors in front of a dense green bush, wearing a light-colored shirt with dark vertical lines and posing with her hand on her hip, framed by a decorative border of white line drawings of leaves and branches.
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I want to paint your space.

A nursery with pink and cream walls, decorated with large floral patterns on the pink section. There's a wooden crib with pink bedding, a room with a window, and a white ceiling light fixture. Interior design custom hand painted mural inspiration.

Murals with meaning.

Hand painted murals for homes, businesses, and public spaces.

A living room with a large floral mural on the wall, featuring abstract beige and brown flowers and leaves. There is a white fireplace below the mural, decorated with three small vases. In the foreground, a glass coffee table holds a wooden sculpture and a black cup. To the right, there is a beige armchair with wooden armrests.
A modern boutique cafe dining area with a round table, wooden chairs, and a large white vase with dried flowers. Above is a hand painted custom wall mural of organic neutral toned flowing lines and shapes. SF Bay Area mural artist portfolio.
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A colorful mural with large pink flowers and green leaves painted on a purple brick wall. An outdoor faucet is installed over a vintage white bathtub, with a wooden fence above the custom mural. SF Bay Area mural artist portfolio.
A girly kids bedroom with a wall featuring calming green floral mural, a small round white table with two white chairs, a potted plant, open book, and a window with natural light. SF Bay Area mural artist portfolio.
Decorative hand painted mural art featuring white floral and vase designs on a red background, with a contrasting section of white textured wall. Inspired by Southern indian hindu decor. SF Bay Area mural artist portfolio.

Things I like to draw:

  • A pattern of small, cream, beige, gray, and tan checkered squares arranged in a grid.

    Abstract, organic shapes,

  • A floral pattern with pink flowers and gray leaves on a beige background, arranged in vertical stripes.

    lots of botanicals,

  • A seamless pattern of various flowers and plants drawn in pink lines on a light background, featuring stylized flowers, leaves, and decorative lines.

    lots of doodling,

  • lots of lines

  • A seamless pattern of pink cartoon flowers with rounded petals and circular centers on a beige background.

    lots of personality,

  • Pattern of interconnected holiday string lights with red, blue, green, and orange bulbs on a beige background.

    all celebrating...

  • Light green floral pattern with small white and blue flowers and swirling green vines.

    little moments,

  • Close-up of blue fabric with a repeating geometric pattern of horizontal and vertical lines, forming symmetrical shapes.

    and little details

  • A blue and beige floral pattern with various leaves, flowers, and abstract shapes.

    of this thing

  • Vertical striped wallpaper with shades of beige, blue, and orange lines.

    we all call life.

  • Repeat pattern of stylized fan shapes in beige and olive green on a light beige background.

    Abstract, geometric shapes,

  • A seamless geometric pattern with interconnected beige lines on a dark background, accented by small striped elements in yellow and green. SF Bay Area mural artist and illustrator portfolio.

    lots of lines

  • Pattern of various colorful flowers and leaves on a beige background, featuring pink, orange, blue, and white flowers with green leaves.

    lots of botanicals,

  • A repeating pattern of small blue flowers, green squiggly lines, and various abstract shapes on a white background.

    lots of doodling,

  • A detailed floral pattern with large peach, pale yellow, and muted blue-green flowers on a dark background, interspersed with smaller dotted accents.

    lots of personality,

  • Repeating pattern of stylized radio wave symbols in light blue on a dark blue background.

    all celebrating...

  • Floral pattern featuring large beige flowers, smaller blue and pink flowers, and green leaves on a light background.

    little moments,

  • Pattern of symmetrical floral designs with leaves and small flowers in light purple on a beige background.

    and little details,

  • Pastel checkered pattern with pink, orange, green, and blue squares on a cream background.

    of this thing

  • Pattern of white smiley faces with various expressions on a peach background.

    we all call life.

Things I like to do:

  • A clear sky with some clouds, tree branches with dark leaves, and the tops of colorful buildings with arched windows.

    Go on neighborhood walks.

  • Study botanicals.

  • Get outside.

  • Bake.

  • Paint mandalas.

  • A hand holding a yellow coffee mug with a white circle that says 'You got this' in front of a clear river surrounded by trees and mountains under a blue sky.

    Drink coffee.

  • Paint doors.

  • Close-up of green leaves with red stems on a sunny day, with a blurred background of trees and a blue sky.

    Hike.

  • Paint walls.

  • Visit museums.

  • Decorative kids kitchen play room scene with neutral floral wallpaper background, a string of cloth, and a white shelf holding cups, a wooden bottle, and containers. SF Bay Area mural artist and surface pattern designer portfolio for art licensing.

    Design wallpaper.

  • Explore.

  • Three pastel-colored towels with floral and leaf patterns hanging on a white clothesline against a plain white wall. SF Bay Area mural artist and illustrator surface pattern designer portfolio available for art licensing.

    Design fabric.

  • Travel.

  • A realistic banana watercolor painting with two paint tubes, one labeled 'Brown' and the other labeled 'Yellow', arranged above it on a white surface. SF Bay Area mural artist and illustrator portfolio.

    Notice details.

  • Get inspired.

  • Spend time with family.

  • Watercolor painting supplies on a table, including paints, brushes, and a sketch of yellow flowers with green leaves. SF Bay Area mural artist and illustrator portfolio & inspiration.

    Paint flowers.

  • Meditate.

  • A notebook displaying black and white flower sketches, surrounded by real pink and peach flowers and green leaves on a dark surface. SF Bay Area mural artist and illustrator portfolio & inspiration.

    Draw flowers.

  • Obsess over flowers.

  • Design tea towels.

  • Cook.

  • A group of four people, smiling, taking a selfie outdoors near a lake with hills in the background. It is a sunny day with clear skies.

    Spend time with family.

  • Beige background with white floral line drawing pattern and the text 'Mikaela Karthik Design' in the lower right corner. SF Bay Area mural artist and illustrator portfolio & inspiration.

    Draw on my iPad.

  • A woman with curly red hair holding a bouquet of colorful flowers on a beach. SF Bay Area mural artist and illustrator portfolio & inspiration.

    Forage botanicals.

Check out my portfolio for more creative inspiration.

Seamless pattern with green parrots and red flowers on white fabric. Indian inspired botanical art for fabric design. SF Bay Area artist portfolio.

A deeper meaning behind the artwork.

READ STORY TIME

Let’s be friends on Instagram.

View fullsize 🌼Some bold, happy, weird and wonky flowers + a background color rabbit hole for your Monday morning feed.
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View fullsize ☀️Being from the Bay Area I usually prefer a 60 degrees and foggy day but then when the sun comes out it’s so exciting to go out without a sweater and or wear shorts for once. ☁️Then once it’s cold again I think how nice it would be if
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View fullsize ✨This last week-ish I’ve been at high holiday services for the Jewish new year Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. One of my favorite things about any Jewish religious service is the singing and chanting. It is an INCREDIBLY meditative and calming au
View fullsize 🌻These hand drawn freeing florals were my submission to #gcxlimited25 🌻Plus a few other color combos I loved and hope you do to! #lineart #lineartwork #flowerstagram #florallinedrawing #befreebeyou
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View fullsize 🥯I’ve been on SUCH a bagel kick lately - simple cream cheese, lox, red onions, capers, cucumber and a drizzle of olive oil all on nothing beats a @boichikbagels 🥯So that’s my week 39 of my #52FridaysOfGratitude ~ my personal art chall
View fullsize 🌿I have zero recollection of making this pattern but I stumbled upon it when I was looking for something else on my computer and was pleasantly surprised - I love all the colors I chose ha ha! 🌱It kinda feels aquatic to me like seaweed or somethi
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View fullsize 🌼Here’s some cute happy scandi-ish flowers because the world, the news cycle, the reality of how so many people are living in pain, fear, or violence or something else that’s no good is so dang real and it just feels heavy right now. ?
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View fullsize ✨ Just got back from an incredible week in Alaska and boy it got me thinking about all the places these specific shoes have been in the 15 years I’ve owned them. I had so much fun looking through photos of lots of different travels! Swipe throu
View fullsize ✨Watercolor botanical silhouette studies ✨Manifesting this into a mural for a local Bay Area business (hello beer gardens / outdoor dining + garden cafe) or residential backyard accent wall in a light teal and blue color palette 🤌🏻
View fullsize ✨Bold paper cut happy flowers and a colorway rabbit hole ✨Which one is your fave I honestly can’t pick one! [abstract modern flowers, simple bold botanical shapes, East Bay Berkeley creative community, available for art licensing, artists da
View fullsize 📙I’m on book 10 of a 12 book true crime thriller series and I. CANNOT. PUT. IT. DOWN. and it’s bringing me SO much joy to sit on the couch with a cozy blanket and a cup of something warm and read for hours. 📙So that’s week 36 of
View fullsize ✨doodlin doodlin doodlin away meets golden hour sunlight✨ [abstract retro geometric floral shapes and line art, East Bay San Francisco Bay Area creative community, mural inspiration, surface pattern design, daily drawing artist sketchbook #theydraw
View fullsize ✨There is something so magical about getting lost in linework. ✨Being an anxiety prone perfectionist with a tad bit of OCD, my brain often feels like there’s a bunch bouncy balls of thoughts and feelings all bounding off each other in an endle