Renata Schmidt Zahuranec

Renata was born in Czechoslovakia, now known as the Slovak Republic, in the city of Michalovce. She became inspired in the arts by her art teacher and her grandfather who created a bronze bust for Tomas Masaryk, the first president of Czechoslovakia. This led to her interest in painting and studying the arts in school.
Renatas passion for art continued and after 20 some years working in computer systems, Renata decided to change her career. She studied art with portrait artist Bill Kufahl and continued with classes at the Cleveland Institute of Art, where she received her Certificate of Completion. She also studied figurative art with artist George Kozmon. Renatas life-like portraits in charcoal, pastels and oils, capture the essence of the individual and bring life to the paintings. Her art has been shown and auctioned at local Charity Benefits, at local Art Galleries. Internationally her art has been on view in Italy, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and this summer her art will be at the Kensington Town Hall in London.

In my portraits I focus on capturing the essence and the emotions of the individual. I am influenced by the paintings of William Bouguereau, Rembrandt, John Singer Sargent, French Impressionists Claude Monet, E...