Whether she’s working in her home studio or driving around during the course of her day, Ellie Moniz is constantly inspired by the world around her.
“I love the play of light and shadows on everyday objects,” says Moniz, a local artist whose vibrant watercolor paintings have been catching the eye of art enthusiasts near and far.
Moniz began working with watercolors over 20 years ago, while pursuing her BA in Art at Millersville University.
“I took one watercolor class in my sophomore year and fell in love with the medium. It totally suited my personality,” she recalls.
Her paintings, mainly cityscapes, landscapes and coastal scenes, make you feel like you’re looking out a window into a moment in time that she’s expertly captured with her paint brush. She uses the play of shadows, colors and light to portray the movement of the objects on her canvas.
“I’ve always been drawn to architecture,” says Moniz. “I grew up in the Holmesburg section of Northeast Philadelphia, off of Frankford Avenue, which was a bustling spot of activity. When I think of my childhood, I remember the sounds of sirens and chatter and noises, city sounds that made an impression on me at a young age. Now, when I paint cityscapes, I want to show the city as an exciting place to be, with lots of movement and activity. That’s what I try to capture in my paintings.”
She and her husband moved from the Philadelphia area to Huntingdon Valley in 2010.
“We were driving through this area one day and loved the way all the houses in the neighborhood were different and the neighborhood had a cool, small-town vibe to it. It looked like a great place to raise our kids and became a new place to find inspiration.”
Moniz typically works from photographs, inspired by everyday things that she encounters. She then creates a sketch from the photograph on watercolor paper and adds color later in the process.
“After creating a sketch on the watercolor paper, I soak it so that it stretches out, staple it onto my board and, once it’s dry, I start painting,” she explains. “People always ask me how my watercolors look so vivid. I like to use a particular brand of watercolors made by M. Graham & Co., which are actually made using Northwest blackberry honey, which makes the colors very intense.”
In 2015, Moniz began participating in local fine arts festivals, including Chestnut Hill, Jenkintown, Glenside, Ambler, Doylestown, Manayunk and Rittenhouse Square.
“I really like the art festivals because of the personal connection of talking to people and finding out what they like, why they’re interested in a particular painting and knowing where my painting is going. It’s very fulfilling,” says Moniz, who typically attends 12-13 shows per year.
She has received Best in Show awards from Abington Hospital’s Art in the Atrium and the Chestnut Hill Fall for the Arts Festival, as well as numerous first place awards from local fine arts shows.
“I love finding unique ways to look at everyday things,” says Moniz. “It may be something that seems very ordinary, like a flower or a building, but it’s the way the light is hitting it at a certain angle and it’s like it’s singing to me to paint it. It’s sharing that with others that brings me the most joy.” — 19006
For samples of her artwork and for more information, visit www.elliemoniz.com.
