Born in Koenigsberg, Germany, Monika spent her early childhood along the East Prussian coastline of the Baltic Sea and later spent her youth in the region of Bavaria to pursue her schooling.  Although the years in war-ravaged Europe were particularly tough she found solace in creative drawing, the beauty of the mountains and an early love of music.  The Alps provided territory for her creative stimulus as a child.

She immigrated to the United States in 1953 with her mother, and settled near friends in New Jersey.  While still a high school student, Monika attained the unusual and distinctive achievement of winning two national art competitions.  The awards were art scholarships to attend college classes.  Thus, her formal art training was launched.

Monika departed for Hollins College in Virginia in 1957 where she pursued a double major in art and art history.  After two years she transferred to the University of Pennsylvania to enroll in masters-level classes.  Monika could be frequently seen painting and exhibiting on location on the East Coast and Canada.  She became a founder and moving force among the Delaware River painters, who focused on landscape painting in this historic region.  She was the only living artist to receive the New Jersey Tercentenary Award.  She married, began raising a family, and still found time to exhibit her paintings broadly in the United States and Canada.

In the 1970's Monika expanded on her artistic abilities with a degree in gemology and jewelry design from the Gemological Institute of America.  As a gemologist, she began freelancing on the international markets, turning her designs and colorful sketches into private collection jewelry.

Monika moved West to Idaho in 1984, where she frequently explores the mountains, deserts and canyons across the western states and Hawaii with only her paints in hand.  As a plein aire painter, she draws inspiration from the spectacular nature around her; she captures aspects of this dimension in her paintings through her selection of colors and style. In addition to landscapes, Monika enjoys painting portraits, wildlife, and marine subjects.  In 1993 Monika co-founded the "Au Natural Art Group" for professional painters in Sun Valley, Idaho, where she currently lives.