We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mona Bulis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mona, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I fell into what I do because, honestly, it seemed like the only path available, because it’s the only natural way of thinking for me. It took me a while to realize that those odd pieces of me started making sense when I embraced the fact that I didn’t really have a choice in this matter. I relate now more than ever to my childhood self, which had funky questions and funny ideas. I think I speak for everyone that living like that through puberty isn’t easy cause it’s a very unconventional way to think. I definitely went to the wrong schools, where students wouldn’t appreciate quirks and teachers wouldn’t support the outsiders. I kinda lost my approach to creating art, even though I always loved art class, I couldn’t dive into it in my free time. Afterwards I tried to study something that wasn’t in my nature and I felt completely lost, so reinventing myself as an artist just felt freeing and made me improve my personality. Needless to say: I am so proud to have found my way back into the field. Now it’s easy for me to figure out weird ideas, change concepts to make them appear more approachable and just have fun with an input that is set to work with. Basically what helped me do what I do now, was learning different tools to visualize my ideas and through the daily usage of my skills. I think the biggest obstacle in my journey was myself. I barely ever believed in myself and always took other people’s opinions more important and let myself be manipulated by them. I always thought my work needed to be perfect but that’s such a detaining mindset. I sometimes meet people who tell me they can’t draw or are bad at visualizing. I really hate that, just enjoy the craft and have fun, don’t overthink and do. It’s supposed to be fun. Just let the mind flow, forget about everything and dive into work.

Mona, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

To be honest I don’t really know how to define my current status. All I know is, I’m deeply passionate about creating art in various forms. Collaborating with like-minded friends feels
effortless, like everything just clicks. It’s great to work as a group, to be proud of finishing
work and presenting the output you achieved. I like to create visually pleasing pieces for
people, pictures that make you feel at least something, make you feel touched. These days I
paint a lot on canvas, which helps me improve my color skills and train my imagination for
other projects. The last couple of years I developed some skills in 3d softwares, these days I
wanna get more comfortable in motion designs and collaborate with friends of mine who do
music.
Art, especially digital art, has taken a turn towards the abstract, and I find that fascinating. It’s
not always about creating hyper-realistic visuals. Nowadays, going to a cinema feels more
like wandering through a museum, appreciating the craftsmanship behind digital art. It’s very
pleasing to know that art is evolving over humanity and we have this approach to it now. I’m
eager to contribute to this evolving era of art.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

To make the process of creating art easier for me I needed to figure out what it actually means to me. Particulary in my paintings I mostly try to visualize the feelings I am having cause I have difficulties articulating them with words. Sometimes it is hard to know what feelings mean in my opinion and I only feel them as pictures in my head. Through creating art I can relieve them and let go of especially negative feelings. I still see myself as a beginner and somtimes I meet somebody who is new in creating art and having issues visualizing it, mostly because we get the feeling that only perfect art is worth to be appreciated. I get really sad being told, that they can’t draw or are bad at something. I wanna articulate that being good or bad is nothing real. If you enjoy doing your art and have fun thats the only important thing. Respect yourself and others. I think this is what I wanna spread to the world.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I am definitely in the learning phase to not pressure myself. I used to think I needed to impress everyone right out of school, but that only led to feeling stuck. I thought I can only show my value by getting some kind of creative job. I felt like everybody was watching my next step, talking about my decisions and issues. I couldn’t work on any projects, I felt completely blocked and overwhelmed. I think I am still working on that, some days I still find myself contemplating on the pace I am moving forward. But life isn’t linear, achievements are not scheduled and the most important thing is to enjoy work and it doesn’t matter which media I am expressing myself. Life’s not a straight line, and each step is a part of the journey.

Choosing a specialization is a work in progress, and that’s okay. I just try to spend my time on the things I enjoy. When I am already moving in the visual art community, I can try different things and it doesn’t matter if it is digital or analog art.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: withdrawingswithmona
• Linkedin: Mona Bulis