Mona Nelson

artist bio

I have painted exclusively in oil for over 50 years.  I have been in assorted galleries or completed paintings on commission since the 1980s.  My style – what I think of as contemporary impressionism – has artistic forebears in Caravaggio, George Bellows, and Ellen de Kooning.  Early in my career as an artist, my style hewed more closely to “traditional” impressionism with faint notes of realism.  

Over the last decade, my style has evolved considerably to something more gestural, loose, layered, and bright.  This evolution has coincided with my newfound preference for the palette knife, which infused new energy and life into my renderings.   While I hesitate to engage in too much commentary about my work, four words encapsulate what animates me as an artist, today.  If my art ever manages to embody soul, it is due to: (1) color, (2) texture, (3) humanity, and (4) intuition.

I became interested in art when I was young, growing up in the Middle East. Born to an Egyptian dad and American mom from a Norwegian enclave in Minnesota.  I spent my early years in Egypt, Sudan, and Iraq.  In the mid-1960s, we lived in Lebanon before the onset of war.  There, I learned at school for the first time what true creativity was.  I moved to America to pursue a degree in…ah, nursing?  Well – my father urged me to be practical.  Art could wait.  As I acclimated to life in America, I got married and found myself juggling five children.  

Art receded into the shadows but it never left the stage.  My artistic impulse satisfied itself with stray lines in my life’s play.  For a time, that meant Tuesday evenings.  I'd leave the kids in my husband's hands and escape to a local studio to hone my skills.  With time, I built up a portfolio of paintings.  When the kids played, I painted.  So I grew, and I learned.  

All my work is in oil, either painted on canvas or wood panel.  While my portfolio consists of many landscapes, portraits, and still lifes, I am currently most focused on florals, landscapes, and modern translations of historical photography.  My current focus is photography of the daily life of ordinary people taken in the first half of the 20th Century by the U.S. Government’s Farm Security Administration.  

Working exclusively with oil, Mona is an impressionistic artist with an exuberant use of color and texture. these breed a soulfulness in her art. When painting people, she creates a warmth and inviting personal presence.  

ARTIST STATEMENT

Like many artists with extended histories, my medium has been exclusively oil and I have applied it with enthusiasm in many directions.  But in time one develops preferences for style and subject matter - and you also learn that your gifts and inclinations shine best under certain light.  Allowing for this has accelerated my pursuit and passion for painting on two distinct fronts. One involves a pallete knife - the other a brush.

My main body of work is now generated by a pallete knife.  More often than not, my attention is given to flowers and gardens.  I bring these things to life with a confident expression of mixed colors and texture on both canvas and panel.  Working in the artistic shadows of my unwitting mentors like Van Gogh and Gaughan, I work with an impressionistic gusto to leave behind a burst of color - and hopefully a welcome visual sensation.  

My brush tells the other story.  I especially love painting children. With an impressionist distinctive, this work lives on color and an at ease style.  The related portrait work has led to commissions, coveted gifts, and gallery presentation of sacred art.  

RECENT GALLERIES, SHOWINGS, & EXHIBITIONS

190 - Duluth, Minnesota
August 2023 - present

Essentia Health Radiology Department - Duluth, Minnesota
July 2023 - present

47 Degrees Gallery - Knife River, Minnesota
July 2023-present

Corktown - Duluth, Minnesota
June 2023 - present

Siiviis Gallery - Duluth, Minnesota
June 2023-present

Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center - Duluth, Minnesota
September 2023-present

Lake Superior Brewing - Duluth, Minnesota
November 2022-present   

 Vikre Distillery - Duluth - Minnesota
November 2022-present

 The Sacred Art Gallery - Scottsdale, Arizona
March 2018-present

SELECTED COMMISSIONS

“The Embrace” (36x40) - Union Gospel Mission - Duluth, Minnesota (2022)

“The Georgia Martyrs” (58x24) - St. Anthony Catholic Church - Blue Ridge, Georgia (2018)

“Pequot Village” (48x72) - Mashantucket Pequot Tribe - Ledyard, Connecticut (2014)

Extensive private commissions (1983-Present)

RECENT ART SHOWS

ArtFest Midwest - Des Moines, Iowa (2022)

Celebration of Fine Art (waitlisted) - Scottsdale, Arizona (2020)

ART TRAINING

Personal study
I have benefited from untold insights and guidance from artists over 50 years, in many ways, including personal relationships, art, books, articles, videos, and personal contacts.  1970s-present

Scottsdale School of Art
Scottsdale, Arizona
Four separate classes since 2002

The Atelier Studio Program of Fine Arts
Minneapolis, MN 
Live-model one-week class

Kenwood Studio of Art 
Duluth, Minnesota 
Weekly sessions apart from summer - mid-1980s thru mid-1990s

American Community School
Beirut, Lebanon
Art classes in high school 
1969-1971