Biography

I was born in Beringen-Mijn and I currently live in Hasselt

Work: Education Hasselt

Schooling

•     Preschool teacher - Normal school Hasselt
•     Grafism at the academy Hasselt

I discovered the world of watercolour during the 90’s. Wat attracted me most was its transparency and the subtlety of the watercolour technique. The flowing together of water and pigment on paper seemed to me to be mysterious, exciting and challenging. I started exploring this technique with a small group of painters and I also attended some courses and workshops with both Belgian and foreign watercolour painters.
For the rest I’m self-taught.

Since 2001 I’m a core member of the Aquarel Instituut van België and I participate each year in the selection for the yearly watercolour exhibition.

I regularly participate in international exhibitions of the ECWS.

When you paint you slowly learn to let go of control and to surrender oneself to your intuitions. One goes through all sorts of feelings that in the end all come together again, just like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and whereby colour has a great influence on my soul. The flowing together of colours often calls forth emotions that cannot be put in words.

What touches me in what is given, in the feeling of the moment, is what I try to reproduce from the depth of my soul.

Citation:
She always works in an abstract fashion because she believes not all must be said. “Less is more” is the view she adheres to. I also quote from the work of Godfried Bomans, a shrewd author who wrote: “Simplicity is not the sign of a beginner. It is the hard earned signature stamp of a master”.

Bruni Mortier 2011

Citation:
Moniqe is a virtuoso in the use of the watercolour technique: a perfect composition and a just as perfect use of colours. M seems to master everything. At least that is what we see at first glance. I sense the story of human fragility. It is up to you, dear spectators, to discover the deeper truth.

Luc Van Cauter 2013