From a young age, Felicia Aroney knew exactly what she wanted. To the extent that, as a present for her eighth birthday, she insisted on private art lessons.

When, at the age of 11, she won an art scholarship for a high school that had a special interest for children with an artistic flair, her father did what every Greek father and traditionalist would do. He said ‘no’. A firm believer in a ‘real’ education, he sent his daughter to a strict academic girls college.

“Of course I was upset, but I knew what I wanted from a very young age, I knew what made me happy and it was so effortless – to paint and create. But what can you say at 11,” Felicia tells Neos Kosmos.

Once she graduated, she went straight to university and studied Graphic Design and Fine Arts, a path she was always destined for.

But what happened after that is what often strikes artists, as Felicia explains – artistically capable in a lot of different areas, she was confused which path to choose.

“I didn’t want to be a graphic designer. A job came up as a production manager for a big fashion house in Perth and I jumped on board.”

Having made her way up in the company, it was meeting her now husband, Theo Aroney, that had Felicia’s path re-routed again.

“Six months later I found myself in Sydney; a year later we got married,” Felicia says of the years her career was put on hold.

“I gave up all my creative interest to be a stay-at-home mum and have kids. When my kids reached school age, I became itchy; I had time to rediscover myself and my own interests again. I decided I wanted to go back to painting – just for creative purposes, nothing too serious.

“I ended up attending five art fairs. At the fifth one, I had a gallery from Sydney approach me. They wanted to represent me. Of course, I said yes. So, it just spiralled after that.”

For Felicia, it all started six years ago as hobby artistry from home, just to progress to a studio in Double Bay as a professional artist. Last month, Felicia held a single exhibition in her home town of Perth. It was a sell-out, as well as her presence at Hong Kong and Singapore Contemporary Art Fairs.
Inspired by Greek heritage

When asked about what inspires her, Felicia immediately draws on two things: Walt Disney and Greek heritage.

It was as a teenager, while working with the team at Walt Disney productions on animation and design, that Felicia ‘met’ one of her greatest mentors – Walt
Disney. It was this average illustrator, who followed and succeeded in his dream, who left an incredible impression on the young artist.

“Who would have ever thought that the great Walt Disney could barely draw? I’ve seen his original sketches and, technically, they were very basic. But this did not stop him. He employed people to make his ambition reality. That was my first experience of witnessing a great visionary,” Felicia explains.

“I think it’s escapism, fantasy, taking life to a very animated state that attracts me in Disney’s work; there is colour and magic, different kind of energy, it’s quite whimsical and there is such a wonderment in his animation. It was also, I guess, the case that my father, one of my greatest influences, loved Walt Disney.”

During the time in between university and work at Walt Disney, Felicia spent most lunch breaks with her maternal yiayia who, without realising it, influenced her greatly both spiritually and creatively.

This was just one of many hoops in Felicia’s ‘wonderful’ upbringing in Perth, where her Greek heritage held great value.

“My life had a lot to do with my grandparents; learning the Greek culture and heritage from them.

“My paternal grandfather was a very energetic man; he exposed us to the garden, he had a vineyard and olive trees, almond trees that Perth’s climate – similar to that of the – allowed.

“With my maternal grandmother, we connected spiritually, we talked philosophy and religion, and I picked up Greek cooking from her. It was this connection with her that really inspired me.”

With great precision, just like in her painting, Felicia remembers her yiayia, stirring large pots of spinach and fetta mix in preparation for her scrolled pites.

She would knead the vast amounts of homemade pastry over a sizeable table and then, with a big spatula type knife, scoop and spread the mixture over the pastry; her music always on in her creative kitchen space.

“I’ll never forget the day I said ‘Yiayia, I’m thinking of becoming an artist one day’. She looked up over her work bench and replied quite sternly, ‘No Filyo.
You’ll be on your own all day… In a room… Working over a table and using your hands to create. Just you and your music!’ Little did she realise that it was art imitating art.”

Today, Felicia believes the techniques she uses when painting are much like her grandmother’s cooking technique.

“I think that I enjoyed the environment so much in yiayia’s kitchen, that I simply modified it to suit my own creative needs.”

When immersing yourself into Felicia’s art, you won’t fail to notice three things – talkative birds – the Australian fairy wren; layers upon layers of colour that make you wonder what is underneath, and perfect order rarely seen in a painter’s artwork.

It was numerous family visits to Greece, and her observations as a child, that Felicia recognises are demonstrated in her painting today.

“I was an imaginative child and found myself staring quite intensely at the old and decaying walls that abounded in the village we had visited. One thing that
struck me was the many peeling areas of ageing paint that curled off the wall, exposing the hidden layers of what was once a different coloured building. My mind would race, and I’d think to myself … wow … this building was once blue … someone actually chose that colour back then … what was this building before? Who lived here? What did they do? Are they still alive?

“When painting, I use a palette knife and with a thick slab of paint, I apply them over canvas. I manipulate the paint to move where I want it to go and I often use tools to etch into each coat, exposing layers of hidden colour.

“I didn’t realise that my technique had a lot to do with technique in cooking, until I really stopped and thought about it – why is my work so tactile? Why am I using knives? Why am I stirring in big bowls?

“It was just like my yiayia did in her kitchen…”

The fairy wrens that find place in her work serve as a reminder of Felicia’s great inspiration, Walt Disney’s work, where the birds would flit around like they had a spirit and personality. In her artwork, they appear as communicative as Disney’s birds did. But they also represent her Australian heritage.

“By placing the Australian fairy wren on my Greek influenced background, I am in a sense marrying my two heritages together.

“I do think it’s important for an artist to have a story behind their work. Every artist needs to find something in their mind, their bodies and their souls they can connect with and tell a story on paper, on canvas, on wood. One can never really fool their audience. I think that is the magic of reaching the audience and being true to yourself.”

‘Love Birds’ with Napoleon Perdis

It was 15 years ago that Felicia Aroney met the Perdis family for the first time. At her first aid course, she sat next to Soula-Marie Perdis.

It was the first time she would hear about Napoleon Perdis and visit their small cosmetic store on Oxford Street.

From the beginning of their friendship, Napoleon, Soula-Marie and Felicia shared invigorating conversations based on their artistry and dreams.

“Back then, in the ’90s, I frequently visited their one and only store, and Napoleon would enthusiastically rave about his dreams of becoming an international cosmetic brand and high profile personality. And guess what? He’s achieved all these goals, every one of them.”

Who would have thought that, 15 years fast forward, they would start a joint project together.

“Last year Napoleon rang from LA and said ‘You know how I love your art?’. I said ‘yes’, thinking he wanted to buy another piece for his house. He said ‘I was thinking it would look fabulous on one of our make-up bags! I think it would really resonate with people having artwork rather than just a design. Would you be interested in a joint project?’. Well of course I said yes!” Felicia says passionately.

Since the joint project of Napoleon Perdis and Felicia Aroney hit the fashion market at the beginning of this year, it has been an absolute success.
‘Love Birds’ includes perfect matches of colour-coordinated lip gloss and nail polish, each pair packaged in a cosmetic bag that showcases a specially commissioned work by Felicia Aroney.

The bag sold so well in Australia and LA that it has now been accepted into Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury goods department store on New York’s Fifth Avenue.

“It’s a big circle for me – I love fashion, I love design, I love art, and in some way this collaboration is bringing it all together,” Felicia says.

Many years after her father sent her to a ‘proper’ high school, Felicia today says he is probably her greatest fan.

“As a matter of a fact, when I was at university he reached a point that whenever I had a great creative idea he was so totally convinced I was going to be the next Walt Disney that he’d march us both to the trademark lawyers to trademark or patent my designs!

“I was in and out of the lawyer’s office signing papers like the prime minister!”

These were expensive exercises, Felicia recognises today, as nothing came from them. But without him realising (or perhaps he did), Felicia’s father gave her the greatest gift of all – self-worth.

For more information and to see Felicia Aroney’s work, visit www.feliciaaroney.com