"Optimism" Painting

Wendy McCauley Rifkin is a working artist in Los Angeles. Aside from creating commissioned female nude portraits, as well as formal children's portraits, she sometimes works in photo realism, a slight departure from her traditional realism representation of the human figure, as well as in a looser style done only with a palette knife. The artist has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design. She also studied at the Art Students League in New York and Parsons School of Design. Wendy now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. The artist recently designed a jewelry and belt collection, MCC Jewelry and Accessories Collection. Previously, she was the owner and designer of an apparel company and was represented in stores across the country and overseas as well as in magazines. She became a full-time mom and increasingly became interested in painting the female figure and representing the miraculous female form in art.