Momo Luna/Monica Croese- Art and Meaning

"Taste of Life", Acrylic on canvas, 40cmx40cm (15.7"x15.7")

"A Girl So Old in Her Shoes" Pencil and Ink on paper, 15cmx10cm (6"x4")

"What is the meaning of doing art for you?"

As long as I can remember I have drawn or painted.
I need  to express myself. All of my deepest emotions,
even the dark ones, find a place on my canvases and
paper. I am the happiest when drawing and painting,
as I create magical places where my personality can be
totally true, without any restraint. I can rearrange pain
and sorrow into beauty. Sometimes a harsh beauty
perhaps, but there's always hope in my work. I can totally
loose myself while painting. Two friends of mine (who
shared an atelier with me) made fun of me, because,
being absorbed in my own world, I don't see or hear a
thing, and am not aware of what's going on around me.
In my art, I express my emotions, but there are also other
deeper layers. I often use symbolic meanings and archetypes,
connections with nature, old forgotten god(ess)s, and
mythology. I like the idea of intermingling old icons with
the icons of today. I don't think this over for a long time,
it simply appears while creating.

The happiness while creating also contains struggles and
frustration. I struggle mostly while painting. It seems that
drawing feels more natural for me. I begin a drawing and go
with the flow, my thoughts leading my hand and slowly there
appears an image. I never feel insecure about a drawing but
I'm always questioning myself while painting. I have to learn
to let go more. To paint is to struggle, but at the end it is always
satisfying and freeing. Even if the result isn't what I expected.
When my kids were little I didn't have the time, space and
patience for painting. That's why I started to draw little drawings.
I'm doing this still today. There's always time and space for a
drawing.  But after some years I began to feel very restless and
had to paint. As I now have the time I have started painting
again (slowly).

I transform my personal emotions into more universal images,
hoping people will recognize what I want to say and find
(some) comfort in it. As I wrote in the beginning; I simply
need to draw and paint, it's like breathing for me.

/I feel like a lost soul  ~  i go to sleep and dream again  ~
Silent echoes, strange shapes  ~ i have my own world....... /

Monica's links are:
www.momolunasignals.com
www.momolunasignals.blogspot.com
Monica's facebook
Her email is: momolunasignals@live.nl