Mona Edulesco, Artist and Architect, Mona Edulesco Art
Mona Edulesco is a Romanian painter who resides in France and specializes in impasto thick-painted palette knife oil paintings. Her preference for abstract cityscapes reflects her background in architecture and urban planning. Edulesco merges her experience in architectural concept drawings with the freedom and energy of palette knife painting into phantasmagorical textural impressionistic works.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
Instagram, as it grows rapidly and it also allows me to connect with many wonderful people and artists. Exhibiting photos and process videos is very important for my art marketing. Many of my collectors discovered me via this SM platform.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
I am a French painter with Romanian origins, living in Lyon, France. I am a full-time professional artist with a bachelor's and master's degree in Architecture and Urban Planning. I specialize in textured impasto oil paintings, using thick, dynamic, gestural palette knife strokes. I call my style textured impressionism with a mix of post-impressionism, expressionism influences and a semi-abstract manner of representation.
It can be seen as a form of textural modern impressionism, as I use thick layers of oil paint to achieve a vibrant movement in my works. I am absolutely fascinated by the explosive textures and the intense chromatic that you can explore and reinvent by working the medium oil painting. In addition, the palette knife technique that I developed over the years confers expressiveness to my paintings and an amazing three-dimensional aspect.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
One of the best things about being a professional artist is to make a living out of something that I love to do most. Painting is my passion, my joy of living, my dream. Most of my oeuvre focuses on the city subject and urban spaces with a preference for the city's abstract views and skylines. In addition, I enjoy applying my skills by exploring other genres such as florals, landscapes, figures, animals.
I often work on commission, and I really enjoy this creative process. Making a custom piece of art for someone's home is a special thing. I love doing commissions because I can connect with my collectors and work together on a project that will eventually bring joy to their homes. My great satisfaction is to receive my clients' positive feedback once they have installed the painting and to know that they're happy.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
Don't ever stop painting. Make of it your full-time job and pursue your dream.
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
Regarding the creative process of my work, the main idea of a painting can be an emotional impulse, a special moment in my life, a souvenir of a place that particularly touched me. I have a rich imagination, and I often find myself daydreaming about things and places that nobody else is feeling or dreaming about. All those sensations, thoughts and images I incorporate in my art.
Each painting is an experience enriching my inner self. But, of course, I find as well my inspiration in the surrounding reality. I love to wander from one city to the next, discover new places, revisit the old, and then express these emotional experiences in my paintings. The beauty of Nature also inspires me, and I have a special love for the South of France and its Provencal landscapes.
Concerning my cityscapes paintings, I have always loved to approach them in myriad ways. They have a particularity as I enjoy stylizing architectural forms in various manners. My professional training as an architect has allowed me to study in-depth and to grasp the city subject with all of its complexity. The versatility of oil paint, along with my prototypic work with palette knives, allows me to play with the urban forms, abstracting the city in an unconstrained manner.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
First, it would definitely have to be my family. They are wonderful people who love me and taught me valuable lessons, who always supported me in everything I did. Then, of course, I am proud of my parents and husband and of my dear grandmother who passed away, who was extraordinary and a very artistic and talented person. I will never forget our long hours of drawing and painting together or rehearsing the piano since I was just a few years old.
I am also very lucky to have some wonderful, smart and special friends from whom I always learn something, and I know I can always rely on. Last, I am proud of myself. Proud of going after a dream, trusting my instincts and never giving up. I am proud of the art that I accomplish every day and how I succeed in making people happy with my creations. I believe that if you work hard enough and always believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
Social media. Before Covid, the exhibitions I was taking part in.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
I am an optimistic person. I also consider myself pretty organized and ambitious. So, when I quit my job as an architect/urban planner and embraced painting as a full-time business, I knew it would be difficult, but eventually, it will accomplish me. I worked hard for that, but it was worth it.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
I think it's important to promote your business well. At first, I didn't focus too much on that. I am referring here to the online presence and the participation in several exhibitions and art fairs.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
I admire all my fellow artists that decided to follow their passion. I admire many other creative people who succeeded in life and people who are struggling now to accomplish a dream...
I admire very much the artists who are authentic, original and creative, who do not forge the creations of other fellow artists in order to sell them. But, of course, I am not thinking here at the beginner artists who need inspiration from fellow accomplished artists and imitate artworks for the purpose of evolving.
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
I mostly love to paint, that is for sure… However, I don't think I can consider this my hobby, knowing that now it is my full-time job. So yes, I enjoy playing the piano a lot; I love to travel, read or watch a good movie. Of course, I love spending time with my family.
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?
The pandemic had affected me personally, of course (like for so many other people because of the incertitude of the future), but it had a quite positive effect on my business. When the pandemic started, I also started to paint a lot, much more than usual, being isolated, and I had lots of sales and commissions, which was great for my business.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?
I remember having several teachers during my academic studies that really inspired me. Regarding my inspiration amongst the Masters, I have always been attracted in a special way by the impressionist movement. Other preferences are Post-Impressionism, Romanian Modernism and The group of Seven. Some of my favourites artists: are Monet, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne, Suzanne Valadon, Felix Valloton, Klimt, Tom Thomson, N. Tonitza, Stefan Luchian, Corneliu Baba, and Iosif Iser.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
My advice for anyone wanting to pursue an art career is never to give up. Instead, to work hard and never stop dreaming. I truly believe that when you put all your heart into something, it will eventually be rewarded.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
I believe that a reason for failure and giving up could be not having immediate success. Many people who start an art business wrongly believe that this is something granted, that success and sales should happen very quickly. At the same time, not having emotional support could, of course, be a reason to feel uncertain and shortly give up.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
"Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment." - Claude Monet.
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
All the small business owners, freelancers, brands creatives. The ones who work hard to pursue their dream have not always an easy path, especially during the last two years.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
Success is a result of long hours of hard work and a drop of bonne chance.