Hello, my name is Emese, but here in Australia everyone calls me “Mesh”. I was born in Slovakia; then, shortly after I turned 15, my family moved to Canada; from there, I moved to Hungary (by myself) at age 20; and finally in 2011 I moved to Australia, and this gorgeous country is now my HOME. So, one fun fact about me is that I’ve collected 3 different citizenships over the years (Slovak, Canadian, Australian) – and none of them matches my actual ethnicity, which is Hungarian! 😀
Another fact (or secret) about me is that even though I’ve worked in the translation & localisation (& interpreting) industry for nearly 20 years now, my greatest passion is making art: graphite pencil drawings in particular (although sometimes I also experiment with coloured pencils and watercolour).
As a kid, I was a serious introvert: when I wasn’t busy daydreaming and making up elaborate fantasy worlds in my head, I was either reading or drawing. I drew anything I could think of: houses, families, little girls playing in the sunshine, girl gymnasts doing their routines. And then, when I was about 13 or 14, I came across Irving Stone’s biographical novel of Michelangelo by accident: my eyes fell on it when perusing my father’s super extensive book collection (looking for my next book to read), and I felt an irresistible urge to pick it up. It ended up being one of those books that I wanted to start reading again the minute I finished it… And this was the moment when I switched to taking drawing seriously: I stopped drawing little girls playing in the sunshine and started copying the works of Michelangelo and other Renaissance artists.
Then we moved to Canada. Suddenly finding myself in a new culture I didn’t fully understand, surrounded by people I didn’t know at all, having to study all my high school subjects in a language I didn’t speak very well… It was no cakewalk. But all my teachers were truly incredible, and the greatest of them all – a real angel – was my amazing art teacher, dear Ms Sophie Karman. I still think about her all the time. She took one look at my drawings and then she sat me down at a special table in the classroom. Throughout that entire semester (my very first semester at a Canadian high school), while the rest of the class followed the class curriculum, she had me sitting at that special table and copying the works of Dutch and Flemish masters (using just paper and a 3B pencil) to hone my skill. I will never forget this, and I will forever be grateful to her for noticing me, caring for me, and believing in me. Other than Ms Karman’s wonderful guidance in my high school art classes, I never received any other formal art instruction at all.
Unfortunately, however, my story did not have a fairy tale happy ending. First, my application to study at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Art in Budapest was rejected (on two separate occasions). So instead I studied English language and literature, and that’s how I eventually ended up working in the translation & localisation industry. (I love languages – and working with languages – very very much, so this was a completely natural career choice for me.) And then, a bit later, I started experiencing constant, brutal, intractable low back pain… And this pain ended up staying with me for 14 incredibly difficult years.
What this meant, of course, was that there was a very, very long break in my artistic development… And I am now doing my best to pick up the pieces and rise from the ashes.
I got well thanks to mind body medicine: my life is now pretty much back on track. I can be active again (I have done 2 triathlons!), and once again I can enjoy all the things I love so much, like bushwalking, running, swimming, yoga, Pilates, baking, and going to live gigs…
My next big wish now is to find my way back to my deepest, truest – and original – passion. I want to DRAW, and paint, and then draw some more… And take tiny steps towards making a living as an artist, and perhaps even (*gasp!!*) becoming a full-time artist one day.
Well, I have cured myself of 14 years of chronic pain – that was no easy feat. So why not tackle this next big thing now? If there is one thing my chronic pain has taught me, it’s to never ever (ever) give up; to never stop fighting and never stop hoping. So I intend to keep this in mind as I continue to take my tiny steps every day.
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