MONICA ARD
“My latest works, a large-scale collection of animals and contemporary abstracts, is based on years of study of the palette knife, heavy paints, portraiture, and epoxies. I believe the face, even in animal form, can be approached with the same enthusiasm and genius as the human form taught to me by my artist mother and other great teachers. These massive pieces buried several inches thick in epoxy resin, weighing two hundred pounds, measuring up to eight feet, and executed non-traditionally on the floor as a means of controlling the fluid paints, take shape in the final stages as the animal evolves from the midst. The TAGGED series is named for specific wildlife within the National Parks and each name given is in recognition of the park each of these particular beasts are indigenous to. These amazing creatures of beauty need to remain with us, and desperately deserve to be protected, observed, and revered. My latest works are without a doubt, a culmination of travel, observance and many years of learned skill. I have traveled extensively throughout Europe over the last decade, studying the arts of Rome, Paris and Venice, and the glass workings of Murano. I have included in my portfolio of travels over eight trips to Southeast Asia, visiting the workshops of innovative and budding artists, as well as known and established international artists.
I can truly say that my latest works represent a span of over fifty years of art exposure as well as twenty-five years of hard work and diligence. It is my wish that this broadened and enlightened mind, as well as an extremely well schooled and traditionally taught hand, is seen in these large scale pieces. I measure my success in the evolvement of the mind, but also by maintaining the tradition of the brush. What one can accomplish with skill and open-mindedness is without limits. I believe the art world is ever-changing and never without its history of struggles. For me, no matter how difficult the challenge or struggle, I am always willing to participate in the glorious world of color as long as there is an audience that finds the time to opine.”