I recognized my calling as an artist on my 10th birthday when I received my first set of watercolors from my uncle, Ray Bertrand, a WPA Muralists and art teacher at the San Francisco Art Institute. My formal studies began as an undergraduate at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. I received my BA degree from the California College of Art, and my graduate studies were pursued at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

My career began as Fashion Illustrator for Liberty House department store chain in Oakland, California. I became Art Director in 1979 for the Nob Hill Gazette in San Francisco, and in 1984 I moved to NYC becoming Art Director for Fairchild Publications on numerous fashion publications. While living in NYC, I also enjoyed teaching fashion illustration at the Parson School of Design. Editorial, graphic and advertising design became my world for the next eight years.

In 1992, depleted from the fast past of NYC, I made a fresh start in the quaint mining town of Telluride, Colorado, working as Art Director for the Telluride Magazine. During my sojourn in Telluride, I also taught figure painting in watercolor at the Ah Ha School . It was during this period, I began to shift my emphasis to painting, spending hundreds of hours hiking the Rocky Mountains with her watercolors in tow. Miniature landscapes were the first expressions to emerge.

I now live in Miami. My studio is located at the Bakehouse Art Complex in Wynwood, a fabulous converted factory converted into over 60 artists studios. What I try to achieve in my paintings is a sense of “aliveness” with brushwork and color. My aim is to paint the light and pieces of color that describes what I see. My experience with painting is impulsive and fluid rather than an organized plan of action. When I paint I am reacting to the excitement I feel when I see something that registers as beautiful to me. My focus is on the magic!

Contact the artist:
monique.lazard1@gmail.com
484.343.0958

Studio Visits:
Bakehouse Art Complex | Studio 12
561 NW 32nd Street Miami, FL 33127