About
|
Eileen Mosca was born in New York City but she has been a Canadian citizen since 1991, living in Vancouver, British Columbia. As a teenager she met her husband, Paul Mosca, and his archaeological research led her to live in Beirut, Rome, Jerusalem and Tunisia. These experiences had an influence on her art, but the place that has had the most profound impact on her work and her life has been Vancouver. Eileen lives in the diverse and lively Commercial Drive neighbourhood where she has her studio.
Although she was drawing fairly obsessively from the time she could hold a crayon, her parents believed art school was an impractical educational choice and they encouraged her to pursue a traditional academic education. Eileen earned both BA and MA degrees in English literature and has worked in related fields, but she considers being an artist what she is, and being a writer/researcher as a useful but secondary skill. The generosity of working artists in opening their studios and sharing their knowledge with Eileen over the years as well as numerous night school courses and professional development seminars have enabled her to pursue her career as a full time commercial artist. She describes herself as one of the "working stiffs" of the art world, concentrating on commercial silkscreen printing, graphic design, murals and illustration. She has also participated in numerous group and solo exhibits of her silkscreen prints and watercolour paintings which are represented in collections in North America, England, Ireland, Europe, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. One value that was instilled in her as a child was the duty to contribute to the community. Volunteer work is something that Eileen has enjoyed doing wherever she has lived. Most of her community service begins at the neighbourhood level but has often extended to city-wide endeavours in which she has used her professional skills and contacts on a number of projects. For more than 15 years Eileen has been a partner in the Arts Off Main Gallery, an artist run collective at 1704 Charles Street (at Commercial Drive) in Vancouver. |
