One of the more unique aspects of Martin Perry Studios is that it is comprised of both accomplished artists as well as younger, aspiring ones. Monique falls into the second category and is truly a product of Martin‘s guidance.

Monique was born in Dominica but has lived in Stroud most of her life. She studied art and design at Stroud College for two years before attending Carmarthen College in Wales where she pursued an HND in surface design, jewellery design, ceramics, and stained glass. After graduation, with college loans to repay, she found work in the finishing department at Antiquark. After a year and nearly debt free, she decided "it was time to start looking for a job where my four years of art school could be utilised." Fortuitously, Martin was looking for someone to help in the new research and development department and learned that Monique had a strong arts background.

For six months she experimented with colour and mixing stain, and she worked in every department so she could get a thorough understanding of the production process. She then began to re-design masters, which involved sanding areas that had chipped in the machine or adding to parts that were too thin, before production began. From this exercise, Martin realised that Monique was quite adept at carving, so he had her sculpt many of the interior scenes in Harmony Garden Chapter II, as well as the "Rose Bud" which was the first piece she carved entirely. From that time forward, she has carved all of the open edition pieces from the Harmony Garden collection.

I asked Monique if she had a garden of her own. She has recently moved into a new home and has begun to create a living Harmony Garden, planting those flowers that she sculpts. Her first trip to the U.S. and first public Harmony Kingdom appearance was in June 1999 at the International Collectible Exposition in Rosemont, Illinois. The number of people that enjoy her work overwhelmed her. Little did she know how delighted we are by the fruits (and flowers) of her labour.

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