Manon Dumas

I'm Manon Dumas, and I paint animals. In my current series, owls, stags, cats, Highland cows, frogs and octopuses become small mosaics of bright colour, like stained glass, held together by strong dark outlines and set against shimmering gold, silver and copper backgrounds. The style borrows from pop art, cubism and geometric design, but I always want each animal to keep its own character, and often a touch of humour.

Every piece starts as my own digital study. I then paint it entirely by hand in acrylic, on canvas board or stretched canvas, one patch of colour at a time.

This series grows out of a long journey through neorealism, abstraction, fluid painting and pull paint. I didn't go to art school: I learned through courses and ateliers, training in classical and landscape painting with Pierangelo Piazzo and Guy Rivoir, and studying the human figure in sculptor Piero Cerato's studio. Bruno Munari's work on form and colour still shapes how I build every image. Before painting full time, I worked as an architect, journalist, fashion designer and interior stylist.

Classical and landscape painting with Pierangelo Piazzo and Guy Rivoir; study of the human figure in the studio of sculptor Piero Cerato.