Nina Tescar in her studio

Photo: Courtesy of  Nina Tescar

BIOGRAPHY

Nina TESCAR was born in 1968 in the small town of Falesti in Moldova, where she grew up receiving the cold education and extreme rationalization of the time of the Soviet Union.

She comes from a family of three children, 3 daughters; father electrician working in factory; mother official at the post office.

At the same time as her traditional studies, she attended the Falesti painting school very early, like many children.

At the age of 15, she decided to join the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, to begin art studies at C. Repin High School, painting section. She graduated after 4 years in 1997.

When she was 19, she worked as an art teacher at the Falesti school she had attended as a child.

She decided to continue her studies to become a book illustrator. So, in1988, enters the Institute of Fine Arts in Chisinau, department for graphic design and book illustration. Her main teacher was R. F. Cutuba. Six years later, in 1994, she graduated as a book illustrator.

At the same time as her studies, she worked for the private sector on the illustration of children's books

She arrived in France in 1997, and carried out several trades to ensure her livelihood. But at the same time she goes door-to-door in several galleries to try to exhibit her works. She is desperate to change this situation, and she strives to engage even more in the craft of art.

Her diplomas are not recognized in France. In 2008, she decided to study, but given her age she can not join a major Parisian school. So, reluctantly, she is moving towards a correspondence school: the Ecole des Métiers Créatifs, Ligne et Formations (School of creative professions "Line et Trainings) - Section Draftwoman-Illustrator. A very serious school, complicated but with a very good reputation.

She graduates in March 2010.

In 2011 she resumed her studies for the fourth time at the same school, Ligne et Formation, interior decorator section. She graduated in June 2014.

She is a member of The National Society for Fine Arts, in Paris France (Société Nationale des Beaux Arts.)

She is a member of the famous Taylor Foundation.

Nina Tescar's works have appeared in numerous prestigious exhibitions in France, in America, and in many countries.

Credited by eminent art experts for her original works, she has won the most prestigious awards and prizes.

In May 2018, Nina Tescar joins the group of artists now represented in worldwide exclusivity by Fine Arts Elite International Ltd.

She constantly works to improve her technique, looking for other means of expression, and new themes.

A WORD FROM THE ARTIST

Everything started with my studies at the Fine Arts Institute of Chisinau.
For six years, i studied various techniques and executed many assignments for book illustrations.

I have illustrated E.E.A. Hoffmanm H.C. Andersen, C. Baudelaire, C. Balmont, etc.

My main teaher was Roman Cutiuba, a young professor coming from Tallin, with a diversified and complex curriculum. He was able to lead me in the right direction and to support me in my efforts. That is where I acquired a taste for finesse of features and perfection of drawing. He said: "You can look at what other artists do, but do not fall under their influence or copy their ideas and works, this is called Plagiarism. Find your style, your technique and your themes. "

Making an illustration is simpler. You have the text on which you develop your imagination. In the case of the Free Graphic Design, it is up to you to find the theme and the inspiration.

I found my first inspirations  in my childhood. In my short free times, I was reading, Thanks to my mother we had a small library. So I began to read Moldovan folktales, Russian: A. Pushkin, P. Bajov, then mythology, and finally novels of V. Hugo, A. Dumas and J Vernes. I immersed my imagination into this unknown, distant and so different world. Later, I read science fiction novels like S. Lem and others. As I did not like reality, I created my own world, where I wanted to become an illustrator of books. At the time, the information circulating was very poor in my native village. It is in Chisinau that I discovered music, opera, theater, museums. Even there the communist taboos were everywhere.

During my studies at the Institute, on the history of art, I was led to study several painters of several cultures, Flemish painting caught my attention, as well as Chinese and Japanese culture.

For a year I worked on my graduation diploma, "illustration of a book of a writer of your choice." I chose Dino Buzzati, an Italian writer. I made 15 illustrations for this book, 10 lithographs and 5 pencil drawings. I consider this series as my first exhibition, a serious experience in this field. In parallel I was doing illustrations for children's education books.

My choice to work with Indian ink is a rational choice. It is accessible, materials are cheap, and easy to carry. The paper used is easy to find. The work can be imagined and drawn without the need  of a studio. I therefore developed a technique that allows me to remain free, and stay alone face to face with my creation. The post-Soviet era has made life very difficult and unbearable in Moldova. The black and white amply reflects my state of mind of time.

When I arrived in France, I discovered another world, beautiful, alive, hot, and impressive. When I discovered the multitude of choices of materials offered to painters by art stores, I was stunned: I told myself that there were some things to do ! I was astonished that black inks not only have gray shades but also can turn and flow in purple, brown, blue, green, even in yellow shades. Discovering watercolor inks, strong and intense, discovering different pens, felt-tip pens, pencils, rapidographs, all this led me to look differently at the technical way of expressing myself. Always faithful to black and white I added a third color.

Over the course of time several themes have flooded through me, and interested me such as: The world in Black and White, Strange Colors, Eros, Winter, The Ocean, The Beginning, Sentence . Each theme has its own inspiration, its raison d'etre and its mixed technique. But they are linked together by the same madness of the perfectionist design and the taste for details.

Nina TESCAR - May 2018

PS.

I am used to working in silence and to express myself through my paintings

1997

« Grand prix international d’arts plastiques  L’AIGLE de NICE »

Prize of the city  of CANNES.

1998

Grand prix international d"arts plastiques L’AIGLE de NICE »,

Prize of the AJM MONACO

2005

Salon d’Automne - Paris

Prize of the young artist "Prix du Jeune Artiste."

Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux arts - Paris

Prix d’Honneur Special (Special Prize of honor.)

2014

Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux Arts Carrousel du Louvre Paris

Prix Puvis de Chavannes

2016

Salon international (European Academy of Arts France AEAF) , Paris

First prize for other graphic techniques:   Premier Prix Autres Techniques Graphiques.

2017

TAYLOR Foundation, prize-winners exhibition

Prestigious Prize for drawings:      Prix de dessin de la Fondation Taylor , prix Roger MARAGE

52nd Visual Arts Fair of Chatillon - France (ADAC , Salon d’arts Plastiques de Chatillon)

Prize or best work on paper.

29th  Grand Prix l’Aigle de Nice International

Prize L’ Aigle de Nice D’OR: Gold Eagle of Nice

Prize of the president founder for originality in painting Le Prix de Président Fondateur Alain Bideaux pour l’originalité- Peinture-2017