Bonnie Lecat began her career in art as an art director and commercial illustrator, working at various advertising and marketing agencies in Chicago where she designed everything from the toys that come in cereal boxes to album covers and store displays. In the late 80’s and early 90’s she took an interest in faux finishing and murals and painted every room in her house. When friends, family and work associates started requesting her artwork for their homes and businesses, she saw an opportunity and decided to fulfill her passion for creating fine art and decorative painting and opened “Bonnie Lecat Designs”.
Bonnie’s career took a leap forward after studying in Rome with four world renowned mural artists and decorative painters from France and Italy. Seeing the fresco masterpieces in the Roman cathedrals was a tremendous inspiration for her future work. Her desire to recreate the aged frescoes she saw in Europe led to a study of different faux finishing products and plasters. She now utilizes these different products to create interesting textures in many of her murals and paintings and finds that this adds a lot to their tactile and visual interest while helping to give each piece a unique “aged” quality. This fascination with textures and patinas along with a passion for unique vintage items is evident in most of her artwork. She is also influenced by many of the antiques that she collects with her photographer husband. Her love of nature combined with an interest in spirituality and philosophy as well as beauty and design was the catalyst for her recent exploration of birds, angels, and nests.
Bonnie’s process involves not only layering plasters, waxes, and different types of metallic paints, but also utilizing different materials such as old lace curtains, locks, keys, beads, and stamped metal to further help each piece convey a feeling of history and nostalgia.
Bonnie is a graduate of Columbia College in Chicago where she studied fine art and illustration. She is an active exhibitor in the prestigious International Salon of Decorative Painters, and a member of the Chicago Artist’s Coalition and the International Decorative Artisan League. She currently resides in the northern suburbs of Chicago with her husband, Paul, and two teenage daughters, Bailey and Chloe.