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If you are facing obstacles and hurdles in your art journey, then you came to the right place, so keep on reading.
Today we are back with an exciting and inspiring story of an artist who will help you in your art journey and in your personal life too.
Artist Bio
Mona Lerch is a self-taught contemporary artist currently residing in Brno, Czech Republic.
After having completed her studies in Australia and the UK, she returned to the Czech Republic to pursue her career as an internal security specialist.
Originally a dance choreographer, the painting was not an obvious artistic path for her; however, she has been drawing inspiration from movement, emotions, and senses just as she used to do when creating choreographies.
Artist Statement
Mona concentrates on abstract oil painting. She uses both life and work experiences to give shape to unique pieces of artwork that are characterized by elaborate structure and layers. Her paintings are
intuitive and offer space for the viewer's imagination.
Being a nature lover and a passionate advocate of ecological lifestyle, she digs deep into her fantasy to materialize her own inner world on canvas. Her mission is to create a narrative embodying the beauty we have around us that we forget to see and to break the boundaries between the body and mind.
I paint because it makes me feel alive. Canvas is my playground, where I give shape to dreams and feelings, drawing inspiration from nature with all its wonders.
Painting healed me when I felt confused and lost. I had my first child and my world turned around. I fell so deeply in love but premature birth and events that surrounded it left me in pain and anxiety. I decided to face it and fight it and transfer all my feelings on canvas. I felt that I needed to concentrate on the beauty we have around us that we forget to see because our minds are troubled by things that we feel we cannot control. But we do. And that is my aim. To show my audience that we can sit down, take a deep breath, and take in all life has to offer.
I use oil paints because I love the endless possibilities I am given with them. I believe they can teach us patience and appreciation of the slow process in this era that forces us to accelerate everything.
My mission is to create a narrative embodying the beauty we forget to see. To make you remember that we should care more.
After going through Mona's artist statement and bio, we would like to share her story as an artist and as a human being to inspire and motivate other artists to work on their art dreams
My name is Mona and I am a 34-year-old self-taught abstract artist based in the Czech Republic. I am also a wife to a wonderful husband and a mum of a 2-year-old amazing boy.
My artistic journey is quite a long one; however, the painting was not involved in my life up until recently. My granddad was probably the only one in the family who drew and painted, so I was never encouraged by anyone to go into fine arts. When I was a kid, I took singing and drama classes and I started dancing when I was 10. When I finished high school, I moved to Sydney to study English and later to London to do an undergraduate degree in Criminology and Psychology. I wanted to become a forensic psychologist or a criminal profiler. In the end, I did my postgraduate degree in Criminology and moved back to the Czech Republic to pursue a career in the area of internal security as a Senior Ministerial Counsellor. Until 2016, I was also a dance teacher and choreographer for a major dance studio in Prague.
The painting came to my life unexpectedly a few years ago when I wanted to make personal gifts for my family and friends. I bought very cheap art supplies and created several pieces that were a huge success. Since then, I painted very occasionally without any intention to become a full-time artist. It all changed when our son was born prematurely and I developed postpartum PTSD. I started painting again and after seeing what art did for me, I decided to show my art to the public. I must say that I was never so excited about work the way I am when creating.
When I started painting, I automatically reached for oils. I don’t have an explanation for that. It was my intuition. As I mentioned previously, I am self-taught, so it took me quite a while to figure out how to use them properly. I started playing around with them, made the usual dusks and dawns, boats (my dad is a sailor), lavender fields (my mum loves the French countryside) and then I moved on to abstract pieces. I am quite an impatient person so I figured oils were supposed to teach me patience and admiration for the slow process. The simple fact that I can come back to a painting after several days and change its character is priceless. Several months ago, I switched from regular oils to water-mixable oils because of the fumes. I am a nature lover so I mostly get my inspiration there. I also love watercolor art and the next step in my art practice is an illustration.
As regards my creative process, I usually listen to my heart. I have to feel that it’s the right time to create. If I don’t, I concentrate on something else like social media, marketing, or learning new things. As a former dancer, I think it’s quite obvious that I need to have some cool tunes on when creating. My ideas mostly come from various shapes, colors, and structures nature around us creates. Every single piece of art I make mirrors my emotions and both life and work experiences.
Art makes ME happy. The whole process brings me joy – thinking about art, creating art, looking at art, learning about art. There is so much love involved. For the first time, I’ve been creating something solely by myself. I mean, even when you teach dancing or when you are choreographing, it’s always a group thing. This is just me. It’s so empowering.
But, more importantly, art heals me. I experienced a few rough moments in my life. To name a few – when I was 18, I had a spinal injury that also triggered a spinal birth defect called the Schmorl’s nodes which resulted in everyday backache (quite heart-breaking when you want to become a professional dancer one day). I was also diagnosed with endometriosis about 7 years ago, and I tragically lost my cousin whom I grew up with. What I’m trying to say is that these situations give some direction to your life and it’s all about how you respond to them. Somehow, you learn to live with the outcome and you are trying to move on. Personally, I think the most defining moment was the premature birth of my son two years ago. As I mentioned earlier, I developed postpartum PTSD and it took me about half a year to start functioning properly. I experienced so much fear, sadness, and anxiety that I needed to release these negative emotions and concentrate on something beautiful to save myself from drowning too deep. I started focusing on little things that bring me pure childish joy, and I started painting, and it just worked magic on me. So that’s it – I’m in love with my husband, our amazing son, and my art world.
I wish to make my audience feel what I feel when I am creating. I paint for everyone, who is interested in making their life a little bit prettier not just by decorating their house with a soothing piece of art but also by opening their hearts and minds to little things that really matter.
I am trying to create a narrative that shows my audience the importance of returning back to our roots. I think it's so important to take pleasure in small things in life and to enjoy the natural beauty we have around us that we forget to see because our minds are troubled by things that we feel we cannot control. But we can because we have the option to live a conscious life.
I get inspired by everyone and everything, in a way. I admire several artists from the past such as Mark Rothko or Claude Monet but I always prefer to look at the work of living contemporary artists. Instagram is a perfect environment for me because it’s full of talented creatives whose work takes your breath away. I realized I love supporting fellow artists by sharing their art in my stories and showing them love through comments. I think that makes the community more like a family.
That’s pretty much how the idea for my new platform was born. I absolutely adore artists with a background story to their process. Also, because of my own experience as a parent, I feel that the healing power of art needs to be emphasized. I believe that artists, and art mums, in particular, are extraordinary human beings who deserve to be celebrated. Art Mums United is an inclusive platform for amazing women creatives who want to share their inspiring journey to celebrate motherhood and femininity. It’s a global collective of superheroines who share love, support, and respect for each other.
Mona Lerch
IG: @monalerchwallart
Founder of Art Mums United
IG: @artmumsunited
I hope after reading to such an inspiring story of an amazing artist and a beautiful human being you must be inspired to work on your art journey and must be prepared to overcome the obstacles that come your way and to work on your art dream.
Let me know what you think about it? Share your story in comment section below...