Bio | mcarmonaartstudio

Mónica F. Carmona was born and raised in Mexico City. Her early experiences with art were shaped by colorful Mexican crafts, her father's guitar music, and the magic of a box of crayons at school. Her passion for drawing led her to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 2004.

Her artistic interests were focused on realism, portraiture, and the Old Masters. Realizing she needed to find someone who would teach with this approach, she sought out mentorship for the next two years and Mónica studied painting under Luis Nishizawa, a renowned Mexican/Japanese painter, and Miguel Angel Suarez, both of whom emphasized realism at the University.

In 2008, she received an Honorable Mention from the National Autonomous University of Mexico for her thesis titled "The Corpse as Representation of Death and Its Ascetic Purpose in Baroque Painting in Spain and Europe."

Around that time, she began teaching architecture students through museum workshops at the University Museum of Arts and Sciences (UNAM) and leading museum tours of the San Carlos National Museum's European painting collection, which spans the 14th to 20th centuries, as well as special exhibitions featuring Old Masters.

In 2009, Mónica was awarded a full scholarship to study graphic design at Olivet University in California. This opportunity allowed her to meet Professor Zimou Tan and study academic drawing and portraiture under his guidance.

In 2023, she achieved third place at the MillsPond Gallery Figurative Narrative Exhibition for her painting "My Son and Himself," an oil painting measuring 30x24 inches on a wooden panel.

In 2024, Mónica collaborated with Virgil Elliot, a renowned painter and writer, to translate his book, *Traditional Oil Painting: Advanced Techniques and Concepts from the Renaissance to the Present*, into Spanish.

Mónica has always had a passion for teaching painting and drawing. After relocating to the United States, she continued to teach K-12 students and adults, employing an academic approach while working from her studio and homeschooling her three children.

**Certificates:**

- Bachelor of Fine Arts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Licenciatura en Artes Visuales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México).

- Master of Arts in Graphic Arts from Olivet School of Art & Design (Olivet University) - Anza, CA.