A passionate artist, Mino Ravaozanany shares her watercolors filled with marine memories and Creole architecture at local markets. Between a Parisian childhood and years of sailing around the world, her brush tells a story rich in emotions and discoveries.
As a child, Mino Ravaozanany grew up in bohemian Paris in the 60s. The daughter of Malagasy parents, she hardly knew her mother and her father was absent. “My mother had joined my father in the capital when she was pregnant with him. He had already started a new life with someone else, so my mother found herself a little lost. From my first year, I was entrusted to a family in the 16th arrondissement under the guidance of a helpful pastor,” says Mino. Until she was 18, she was raised by a woman and her two daughters, to whom she remains very close today. When she came of age, Mino flew to Reunion Island where she met up with a Parisian friend. Her vacation turned into a permanent stay and a new life began. She began studying to become a teacher but she quickly changed direction: “I was 20, I was really searching for myself at that time. I did a series of odd jobs until I worked in a bookstore, where I was immediately hooked.”
The power of literature
Mino found her place and persevered until she found a position as a representative in a children's publishing house for schools: “I presented books in schools, I did activities. I really enjoyed being in contact with children from nursery school to secondary school. I loved seeing their reactions, getting their impressions. It was really exciting”. Shortly after, Mino became head of the school section of a large bookstore in Réunion: “I remember, the bookstore was called Autrement”, she adds with melancholy. An ardent reader, she says she was introduced to literature from a very young age: “Thanks to this family, always with a book in my hand, I naturally developed a taste for it. So, I read all my life but much less in recent years. In fact, painting takes up all my time now”.
Watercolor along the water
Indeed, 5 years ago, Mino discovered a whole new talent: painting. Having sailed for nearly 10 years alongside Jean, her lover for over 40 years, she traveled the world and its oceans before mooring in the port of Marigot. “It just happened. While we were sailing, I took a picture of a house on the waterfront and I wanted to paint it,” she explains.
Using watercolor and Indian ink, Mino likes to work on small details: “I immediately liked the architecture of this house and its sepia tones. Maybe it reminded me of the one where I grew up in Paris.” For a while, the artist specialized in monochrome Creole huts before delighting passers-by at the Orient Bay market with his magnificent marine creatures: “All those years spent at sea inspire me, of course. I remember that first whale that Jean and I saw. We had a small boat of 9,30 meters, the whale seemed immense! Today, whales are my favorite models.” _LM
Source: Faxinfo https://faxinfo.fr/en/portrait-mino-ravaozanany-la-peinture-me-prend-tout-mon-temps/
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