CATELL RONCA
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
Catell Ronca’s use of striking hot colors, bold shapes, patterns and hand-lettering invites the viewer to engage on a direct emotional level with her unique illustrations. Inspired by international vernacular, her work reflects a window into her world, the very global city of London, and the many cities she has travelled to. Her art is alive with lush, vivid botanicals, environments rich with culture, and thought provoking characters that are gentle and playful, a little bit peculiar, and never lack a subtle sense of humor.
Her travels around the globe are a vital source of inspiration, she loves observing people on the streets and markets of London’s multi-ethnic neighborhoods (and listening to the various accents). Other inspirations include antique shops, car boot sales, markets (even supermarkets), fusions of any kind, contradictions, and interiors.
Described as elegant, impressive and delicious, her artwork was featured in Nicole Vernon’s recent posting for the hip London art and design blog The Young Bloods, which went on to say “Her illustrations span a wide variety of influences – everything from psychology and nature to cooking and cats – and she has a distinctive sense of intelligent narrative and wit. Combine this with a delicious colour palette and you’re getting close to understanding the charm and elegance of Catell’s images.” Lost At E-Minor‘s Ilana Kohn says “I’ve been admiring her colorful, deceptively simple illustrations and paintings ever since . . . I first stumbled across them.”
Born on Christmas Day to French and Swiss parents in Basel, Switzerland, Catell now lives and works in London where she studied illustration and graduated from the Royal College of Art. In short order she received an impressive commission to illustrate a series of six postage stamps with the of theme of Britain’s multicultural society and cuisine for the British Royal Mail. With the Queen’s approval of her artwork, the stamps were launched.
Catell has illustrated a number of book covers for respected publishers, both novels and children’s picture books. Her recent work for the The New York Botanical Garden included an animated tv spot as well as a number of other advertising and promotion materials. She has worked with a wide variety of clients in book publishing, magazines and newspapers, advertising and art licensing from the US, Britain, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland and Japan. Her impressive list of international clients includes The New York Botanical Garden, Penguin, Princeton University Press, SpotCo, The Guardian, and Royal Mail. She finds time to teach illustration at universities in London and enjoys being able to guide the talent of future illustrators.
CATELL LOVES – Travel, she has been to: Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France, Scotland, Mongolia, Russia, Germany, Mexico, USA, Oman, Belgium, The Netherlands, Ireland, Hungary, Poland and Portugal. Color, coffee on a hot summer day, the dawn of each new season, the smell of cat fur, Purple Basil, Passion Flower, the Century Plant, artist Grayson Perry, collecting folklore ceramic bowls, blini with smoked salmon, The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai and Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, cooking, and two sweet cats.
PERSONAL WORK – Inspired by her travels in Mongolia, Catell has been working on a children’s book and is close to finishing. She has also set herself to the task of creating a series of posters that visually document many of the fascinating objects exhibited in small museums around London. The first being Henry Wellcome’s Medicine Man at the Wellcome Trust, which can be seen here.
AWARDS + PUBLICATION – Catell’s work has been awarded by a number of juried competitions including – Society of Illustrators 52, Association of Illustrators Images 30, and Society of Illustrators Los Angeles Illustration West 49. Her work has been featured in the art books The Exquisite Book (Quarry, edited by Julia Rothman), The Atlas of Illustration (Page One, Singapore, by Claire Dalquie), and Drawn In (Quarry, edited by Julia Rothman). She has been showcased on numerous blogs including Lost at E-Minor, Ape on the Moon, and The Young Blood Project.
LINKS – her site – http://www.catellronca.co.uk/
her portfolio – http://www.magnetreps.com/portfolio/artist/21/type/a/
her studio – http://www.magnetreps.com/studio/artist/21/
her store – http://catellronca.bigcartel.com/
