French Palette Knife Artist
MONIKA MEUNIER
Monika was born in Oran, Africa in 1947, in a large, but modest happy Jewish family. When she was two years old, she and her whole family fled the Independence War in Algeria and found shelter in Paris. It was there that she was raised and surrounded by eight aunts and uncles, musicians, painters, and a photographer. They filled young Monika’s home with beautiful paintings and photographs, which has taught her how to capture the light and to compose deep and meaningful pictures.
In 1957, she and her family settled in Nice. As her maturity drew near, she didn’t like school so she enrolled in “Les Beaux Arts” of Nice at the age of sixteen. She spent all her free time in Vallauris painting on ceramics. After having lived in Miami Beach, Houston, Stuttgart, Germany, her curiosity led her to try different art classes. She experimented in various forms of expression which greatly enriched her appreciation of art. She expanded her talents in to drawing, sculpture, stained glass, antique restoration, etching, and of course painting. She was particularly impressed by Salvador Dali’s works whereby she herself owns one of them.
Monika created in 1992, the Nice Art Association. She held dozens of exhibitions involving hundreds of painters in the 1990s before coming back to her first love, painting. She decided to immerse herself in the artistic adventure and opened her studio in her hometown of Nice, France.
Monika idealized her version of the most beautiful region that surrounded her. Each place has its own light and colors. There is the red earth of Estérel, the bright blue lavender fields, the typical white provincial and most importantly the coastal waters. Towering amid the cypress and olive trees, are the local sights that inspire her constantly.
She brings her landscapes to life with scenes where the sun is always shining and the flowers are always in bloom. She uses only oil paints that she applies with a palette knife. Her style is distinctive in recognizable layers that is synonymous with her technique and thick extravagantly colors.