Bonnie Mincu’s latest exhibit titled “Visual Journeys,” opens in the Oresman Gallery at the Larchmont Public Library on July 5, and will continue to be on view through August 30.
Orseman Gallery in the Larchmont Public Library.
Mincu’s sudden immersion in art at the age 40 came as a complete surprise to her. Although art had always interested her as a hobby, she had built her career in business. Mincu’s life and passion changed dramatically on vacation in Istanbul, in 1995, when she happened upon an artisan’s studio. She remained there enthralled for hours, watching doll-makers, potters and craftspeople at work. She left Turkey the next day with an inexplicable burning to create visual art.
Immediately upon returning home to New York, Mincu immersed herself in oil painting, craving the flow of texture and color. She initially studied privately for several years with a realist painter who taught in the tradition of the old masters and contemporary realism. In finding her own artistic voice, she related most to the style of the early California Impressionists. In 2005, she began painting in a flatter style of distinct shapes.
Mincu begins every painting by determining the feeling of color she wants to convey. She works primarily in oil, creating landscapes, genre and still-life. “I think of a painting as a stage, with elements playing light and dark characters that may call for special color in the moment,” said Mincu. “Sometimes trees glow red, or dance. Buildings may brood in the mist.”
Originally from Chicago, Mincu now lives in Dobbs Ferry, New York.
For more information about Mincu, visit the artist online at mincu-studio.com.
